Reviving the Black Name: The Story of Shawn Black
by Live2Sk8
Summary: Shawn Black is the perfect snake. She's cunning, arrogant, resourceful, and she takes crap from no one. But with a father who cares more for his godson, and a "Dark Lord" terrorizing America, she has more to worry about than a silly little Tournament.
1. Prologue

"Shawn, could you get down here for a minute?" A girl with jet black hair dashed down the halls of the chilling manor. The girl was tall and thin, with inquisitive gray eyes that always had a sparkle of mischief in them. She was dressed in a tank top and sweat pants, and the smirk that played on her lips gave one the impression that she had just done some serious pranking.

"Hey dad, what's up?" She asked expertly hiding her smirk.

"Don't pull that with me Shauna Black. What did you do?" She blushed at the use of her full name and without missing a beat, pulled her cover story from the back of her mind.

"I don't know what you're talking about dad. Honestly, you get one letter from the headmistress and all of a sudden it's like I've done a federal crime." She complained, her American accent contrasting to her father's British one. Her father was a few inches shorter than her, he had her same black hair and grey eyes, but the main difference was that his eyes were dead, they held no sparkle of mischief like they once did, and were now dry, unlike his quirky sense of humor.

"Oh let it go. Now, I do indeed have a letter from your headmistress, and I would like to know why she wants you to come to the school." He said trying his best to keep his amused look from showing.

"So I'm not in trouble?" She asked hopefully.

"We'll talk about this later." He said handing her an envelope. It was white, no stamp, and was simply addressed with her name in black regal writing.

She sighed and pulled the letter out of the envelope, her eyes skimming down the letter. It seemed with every line her smirk slowly began to return and her eyes regained the hint of mischief.

"She wants me, Troy, and Jake to help our potions master with some summer project..." She said, running a hand through her hair.

"Why though?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well, we're the best in our year for potions, and I swear that teacher loves us." She said with a grin. Their potions professor was her favorite teacher, she was smart, her head of house, and was a mad prankster, I mean, what more could you ask for.

"That'd be a first..." He had a point; many teachers in the school barely tolerated her and her 'band of brothers' as she called them. Sure, they were the smartest of their year, and most of the time could be found studying, but when not in the library, they were formulating new prank ideas, horsing around, playing Quidditch, and had a knack for causing trouble around the buildi_ng_.

"Shut up, you know your teachers could hardly tolerate you and the rest of the marauders..." She said shaking her head, a smirk once again gracing her features.

"Ahh...good times, good times." He said with a reminiscing smile on his face.

"Anyway, she wants us to help with the You-know-what and the Quidditch cup I assume." She said reducing her voice to a whisper.

"Why are we whispering? No one's in the damn house." He said mocking her whisper.

"Good point." She whispered back. Her father let out an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes.

"So you're leaving in a couple of weeks then?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, and I'll be staying there up until a week before the Quidditch Cup, then I'll be going down to Hogwarts to help with the tournament, stay for the Cup, and be back that same week to spend the rest of the summer with you and Uncle Remus." She said in one breath.

"Aww man...That'll be forever!" He whined, sounding very much like a dog.

"Get over it you big lump, it'll be three weeks, four at the most depending on any auror business that needs to be done..." She sighed angrily at the thought of 'auror business.'

"Ahh...I miss auror stuff, it's nice to see that my daughter is carrying on my old career." He said as he pulled her into a one armed hug. She stiffened into the unfamiliar grip, but eventually relaxed into it. This action did not go unnoticed by Sirius, but he brushed it aside, they had only just met and he didn't want to ruin it by asking personal questions already.

"Eh...I'd much rather be a Quidditch player." Ah...yes, at this point in time you are probably wondering why a girl, the age of 16, would be an auror. That question will be answered in due time my friend...due time.

A/N: Hey all, new story, hope you liked it. Please review, it wont make me update any faster to be honest, but it would be nice to get a 'nice one' or 'you misspelled so-and-so'. I accept flames gratefully, but please say why you didn't like it, and I'll try to fix it A.S.A.P. By the way, this series won't be unnaturally short like the prologue, I just wanted to get the series started. You'll find out more about Shawn's past in the coming chapters, as well as why she's needed at the school, what school she goes to, what house she's in, and more in the coming chapters.

Love ya'll lots!

Shawn

Disclaimer: i dont own Harry Potter, you know it!


	2. It's good to be home

Chapter 1: It's Good To Be Home.

This chapter is dedicated to living-is-easy-with-eyes-closed for being the first and _only_ person to review. Thanks so much, you're the reason I decided to update, so I hope you like this chapter!

_Recap:_

_"Ahh...I miss auror stuff, it's nice to see that my daughter is carrying on my old career." He said as he pulled her into a one armed hug. She stiffened into the unfamiliar grip, but eventually relaxed into it. This action did not go unnoticed by Sirius, but he brushed it aside, they had only just met and he didn't want to ruin it by asking personal questions already._

_"Eh...I'd much rather be a Quidditch player." Ah...yes, at this point in time you are probably wondering why a girl, the age of 16, would be an auror. That question will be answered in due time my friend...due time._

_----------------------------------Onward----------------------------------------_

Two weeks later the father and daughter sat on a couch, lying comfortably with Shawn laying her head on Sirius' lap. It was the night before Shawn was to leave for three weeks on secret 'business', so they were getting to know each other as best as they could.

The two were taking turns questioning each other about their pasts, and of their goals, and friends, etc... This proved to be a successful plan, as now the two knew more about each other than what they had at first meet, when Sirius had escaped to Canada after fleeing Hogwarts.

"Who are you're closest friends?" Sirius asked, having already learned her favorite color, class, and professor.

"Nick Winters and Troy Andrews, they're my best friends in the entire world; I love them more than life." She said with a smile at the thought of her 'brothers'. "When did you first meet Mr. Potter?"

"Ah...that is an awesome story. It was the first day of first year, and Lucius, my cousin's future husband, was picking on James, I went to help him of course. Later though, when I went to talk to him, we blew up at each other, him saying that he didn't need help from a Black, and me saying that I wasn't like the rest of them. Needless to say that after the sorting he warmed up to me." He finished with a smile. "What team are you on?"

"Oh you don't wanna know that." She said with a blush as she sat up, shaking her hair out of her face. Sirius looked at her confused for a moment, before continuing.

"Sure I do, you're my daughter, and I missed an important part in your life. Besides, it's not like you're a Snake or something..." Her eyes widened as he said the last part, before narrowing in anger.

"Not all Snakes are evil you know! I'll have you know that at Salem, no one cares about inter-team rivalry; the only rivalry is between the Healers and Defenseman! We're all friends there! Besides, it's not like Lion's can't be treacherous as well..." She muttered the last part as she began to cool down. It wasn't like her to lose her temper at something so trivial and pointless, but nevertheless it had been lost, and with it the mood that had surrounded them.

"Hey, hey," He started soothingly pulling her into a hug. She once again tensed before relaxing into it, but this time he shook it off, "I don't care that you're a Snake, you're one of the kindest people I've ever met," He kissed her hair lightly, "I know that rivalries aren't as huge there, and I know that not all Lions are nice, I'm sorry for making you so angry." He said sincerely.

"Its fine, I'm sorry I lost my temper." She said softly.

"It's okay, now, you up for some dinner?" He asked changing the subject.

"Only if I cook it, honestly, we'd be lucky if you didn't burn the house down..." She muttered under her breath before getting up and walking towards the kitchen. She began to pull out various ingredients from the fridge and pantry before pulling out her wand.

She gave the slender piece of black wood a flick and the stove set to flames, she conjured a pan and began to mix the ingredients that were destined to make her and her father pasta.

Fifteen minutes later Shawn walked into the living room and placed the pot in the middle. She handed Sirius a plate and served the both of them pasta, and left a basket of garlic bread in the middle.

The two ate in silence for a couple minutes, obviously lost in thought, before Sirius decided to voice what he was thinking.

"What was it like, growing up in the orphanage?" He asked, as though testing the waters.

"Eh...I guess it wasn't too bad, I mean, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't totally grand either. Besides, I was out of there by the time I was 13 anyway, so it doesn't really matter." She mumbled looking down at her pasta.

"I guess, but what about the small details? Like what's your best muggle subject? Or the friends you had? The enemies you had? Things like that."

"Um...Well, my best muggle subject was either all Algebra or Chemistry. Those are the two subjects that came easiest to me."

"Just like your mother..." Sirius mumbled.

"Excuse me?" She asked, having not heard what he just said.

"Nothing, continue..."

"Okay...I didn't have very many friends, I had one, his name was Jason, we were the best friends in the entire world, but I kind of lost contact with him when I left, I miss him a lot, but sometimes if I miss him too much, I'll send him an owl to see how he's doing. I sent him one a couple of weeks ago, he replied saying everything was fine and that he couldn't wait for the next two years to fly by so he could get out of there and go to college. As for enemies, I really didn't have any, like, I guess the older kids kind of stayed out of the younger kids' way, I don't get why, but they did, and everyone around my age really didn't care for me. I mean, we all knew each other, and were all kind of friends, but not to-die-for friends, just...acquaintances I guess you could say." She finished, completely avoiding Sirius' eyes by now.

"Oh..." He said. They sat in silence for the rest of the night.

The morning had finally arrived when Shawn would be flooing over to Salem to help with a few projects around it. Shawn awoke to the sound of her blaring alarm clock. She rolled over to the other side of her bed and found that it was 8:10. She groaned slightly but got out of bed anyway. After crashing into quite a few dressers and walls, (thus emitting a few select curse words from the teen's mouth) she made her way to her closet and pulled out her clothes for the day.

Ten minutes later Shawn walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. She had a Quidditch jersey on, the name Black strewn across the back, above a large number '66'. The jersey was yellow, and the lettering in black, on the front corner laid the initials 'NJQ' standing for National JR Quidditch, and on the front lay a stitching of two beater bats crossing over a bludger. She was ringing out her long black hair as she sat at the counter. She pulled out a muffin and began to pick at it while she waited for her father to come down.

After about 5 minutes, her muffin was done and she was sufficiently bored. She pulled out an issue of Modern Drummer. After about 10 minutes her father came bounding down the stairs with supposed 'brilliant news'.

"Remus is coming to see you off!" He said with a grin as he sat down beside her. She sighed and put down the magazine, only sparing him a skeptical look as he began to devour his own muffin.

"Why? I've never really met the guy to be honest." That was a lie, she had met him twice, once when she needed to interrogate him with regards to her father after he had escaped Azkaban, and again after she had deduced that he was indeed innocent.

"Sure you have! Mind you the last time was when you were 3." He said with a sigh.

"Eh...whatever. What time's he coming?" She asked with a bored tone, once again picking up her magazine. She pretended to be intrigued with an article on Dave Grohl, drummer of Nirvana, as she listened to Sirius rant on about his times at Hogwarts. When she heard the name Wormtail she looked up at him with a quizzical look.

"I asked you what time he was coming...how did we end up talking about Marauder adventures?" She asked wide-eyed at her father's randomness.

"If you had been paying attention to me, instead of reading the magazine, maybe you'd know..." Sirius said knowingly as he snatched the magazine from her, purposefully ignoring her adamant protests.

"Modern Drummer huh? I remember this magazine. You could find them everywhere in James' flat, he was actually a pretty good drummer." He said, his eyes shining with past memories. (AN: Can I get anymore cheesy?)

"I bet." She said shortly before snatching the magazine back and tossing it off to the side.

"Oi! I live here to you know, pick that up, I'm not living in a pig sty!" She raised an eyebrow at him but nevertheless bent down to pick it up.

"That's better. Anyway, like I was saying earlier, Remus is coming at 9:30. So he'll be here for about 2 and a half hours before you've gotta...Uh, what is it you cool, hip, young Americans say? Jet?" He asked with a grin as Shawn's eyes widened considerably.

"Never say that...again." She nodded at him to make sure he understood before getting up.

"Well, we've got half an hour to hang before he comes...what'd you wanna do?" She asked, sighing at the long over-used phrase.

Ten minutes later, one would find the family of two upstairs in Shawn's room packing. The two were conversing quietly as they loaded tee-shirts, jeans, shorts, and other items into her suitcase.

"I can't believe you forgot to pack." Sirius said for what must've been the 10th time.

"Be quiet, like you've never done this before." She challenged back, her eyebrow raised in a defying demeanor.

"So what if I--What's this?" He asked raising up a hockey stick.

"A hockey stick..."

"You play that violent muggle sport?" He asked incredulously.

"This is coming from an ex-beater..." She muttered. She put the shirt that she had been folding away and snatched the stick from his grasp. She shoved it into her suitcase and continued to fold her clothing.

"What position do you play?" He asked 5 minutes later, the silence having bothered him so much.

"Goalie." She smirked, not looking up from the suitcase.

"So you play beater and goalie? I find that odd, when you're a beater, you're angry, and wanna smash people, why not do that in hockey too? Why not play keeper in Quidditch? Or some other violent position in hockey?" He asked putting down what he was holding to get a good look at her face.

"Well, I have a knack for catching and hitting small objects, for example. I can hit a bludger at the tiniest target, or catch a tiny golf ball, which is why I would've been a seeker, but we already had one, but I cannot hit or stop something huge...Like, I could probably miss the broadside of a semi if I tried to hit it...or I can't catch a quaffle for my life. Don't ask me why, because I have no idea...It makes no sense to anybody, but eh...that's the way life works." She said with a grin before closing the suitcase on her broomstick. It was a brand new Canadian Lightning Striker, flown by the Flyers and the Eagles, Canadian's International Quidditch teams.

'BANG!'

Shawn's head snapped up, her wand appearing in her hand instantaneously.

"What was that?" She asked her eyes seeking out anything abnormal in the room.

"That would be Remus..." He said before bounding down the steps. Shawn was left sighing with relief as she slipped her wand back into her holster. She shook off the paranoia and snuck down the stairs, trying to remain hidden. She saw her father and Remus talking and sharing a brotherly hug in the living room as she slinked into the kitchen unnoticed.

"Shawn?" Sirius called out, leaning his head into the stairwell, as though she was upstairs.

"In here." She said quietly.

A moment later Sirius and Remus shuffled into the kitchen. Remus stopped short in the doorway, staring at Shawn in awe.

"Wow...you look more like your mother each and everyday Shawn." He said walking up to her. Shawn looked a bit uneasily around the corner, trying to figure out what to say.

"So do we hug? Shake hands? Er...high-five?" He asked, looking equally confused and uneasy.

"Um...Shake hands?" It was more of a question than a statement as her eyebrow rose.

A hurt look flashed across Remus' face, which Shawn chose to ignore, before he stuck out his hand. Shawn mimicked his actions and the two shook hands uncomfortably, recoiling almost instantaneously.

"So...how have you been?" He asked looking everywhere except for Shawn's steely gray eyes.

"Good, you?" She asked, trying to make eye-contact, blatantly ignoring the awkward air in the room.

"Good."

"Did you know that Shawn plays hockey?" Sirius asked incredulously, trying to lighten the conversation.

"I assume for one of Salem's teams?" He asked with a raised eye-brow, slowly becoming more comfortable.

"Yep, starting goalie for the Salem Snakes." She said with a grin.

"A snake hmm? Interesting." Remus smiled weakly.

"I guess." Shawn shrugged as the room once again lapsed into an awkward silence.

"How'd you get an authentic Canadian Flyers jersey? Signed by the whole team?" Remus asked in awe, having gotten tired of the tension in the room.

"I've been playing with them for the past four years." She grinned, if anything could get her talking it was Quidditch.

"Really? Beater I assume?" He asked looking at the beater symbol on the front of her shirt.

"Yep."

"So what's it like? Wielding the bats and bludgers amongst what is said to be the world's greatest beater under 17? The Battering Ram?" He asked with a look of excitement on his face.

"I _am_ The Battering Ram Mr. Lupin." She said with a smirk at his jaw-dropped face.

"No way!!" He asked with excitement.

"Yes way." She smirked proudly.

"Bloody Hell. You're insane! I've never seen you guys live, but I remember listening to you break Krum's nose! Last year in his final year playing JR Quidditch! And that time you took out all three of Ireland's chasers! Wow...who knew that one day, my surrogate niece would grow up to be one of the world's best beaters. You're said to be able to match Anderson and O'Conner, and even Shaylers to boot! And Shaylers is one of the best, if not _the_ best!" He finished in one breath.

Shawn grinned slightly, "I've met Shaylers once or twice, he's a good man, wicked sense of humor, beat him in an arm wrestling contest I did."

"Wow! You beat James Shaylers in an arm wrestling match?!"

"Does anyone want to tell me what's going on?" Sirius asked looking extremely bored from his spot at the kitchen counter.

"Shawn here, known as The Battering Ram amongst the world, is a beater for the Canadian Flyers, Canada's Jr. National Team. They've won the Jr. Cup the last 3 years running, all the time that Shawn's been starting. She's been known as one of the best. America and Canada are fighting over her non-stop, and she has to decide who she'll join, since this past year was her last with the Flyers." Remus said with a look of pride at the thought of his 'niece'.

"Really? That's awesome!" Sirius said enthusiastically, though Shawn couldn't shake off the feeling that it was fake.

"Oh it's really nothing." Shawn blushed. She had never been one to handle modesty, which made her an 'innocent little angel' with a dark side, to the press.

"Are you joking me? You're one of the best beaters in the world." Remus said, still incredibly wide-eyed.

"Remus, leave the girl alone, goodness, can't you see she's embarrassed." Remus took a look at Shawn's bright red face and apologized quietly.

"So...what're we gonna do?" Shawn asked quietly after the hype had died down.

"Well, we have about 2 hours 'till you have to go..." Sirius said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"We can just like...hang out and talk, maybe watch some TV or something?" Shawn asked with a raised eyebrow. Sirius and Remus shared a look before nodding slightly as the trio made their way into the living room.

Two hours later Shawn was standing in front of the Black fireplace, her trunk in her left hand and a handful of floo powder in the other. Remus and Sirius were standing before her, both sharing brief hugs and words of wisdom before she was to departure.

"Stay safe, and out of trouble." Remus said into her ear as they pulled out from a hug. The two had gotten closer in the last two hours and soon it was as if 13 years hadn't passed since their last encounter as 'Uncle' and 'niece.'

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Sirius said as he pulled her into a loving embrace that every father had with his daughter at certain moments in their lives. Shawn sighed contentedly into the embrace, hoping that this would not be the last time she ever felt this safe.

"Don't you mean 'don't do anything you _would_?" Remus asked with a mischievous smirk.

"What he said." Sirius smiled as he aloud his daughter to proceed into the fireplace.

"See you two in a couple of weeks. Remus I should be back in time by the full moon, so we should all go out for a 'Marauder excursion' if you will." She said with a smirk that easily belonged to her father.

"We'll see." Remus murmured, shaking his head and muttering about 'crazy Blacks' and 'I thought her mother was bad enough' and 'a child of hers _and_ Sirius' god help us...'

With one last look at her father Shawn threw the floo powder into the fire place and screamed out clearly:

"Salem's School of Talented Witches and Wizards; Headmistress' Office!" And with that Shawn disappeared in a flurry of emerald green flames.

"Well that was a mouthful..." Sirius muttered shaking his head. Remus laughed slightly as the two of them sat down on the couch and started to talk about old times.

"'Bout time you got here." Was the first thing she heard as she stumbled out of the fireplace and onto the ground. She shook off the ashes and sat up, taking in her surroundings. She was in the headmistress' office at Salem, an office she had been in many times, mind you. The room was painted in a dark blue and bronze and had an air of familiarity to it that immediately gave Shawn a feeling of security. Directly in front of the entrance door was a desk, it was clean, and had writing utensils on the left and a neat stack of parchment on the right. On the balcony overlooking the room as a trail of steps leading to the bottom floor, were pictures of countless witches and wizards that had headed the school before the current inhibitor. The windows were draped in bronze velvet with dark blue ties and the large chintz armchairs were dark blue with intricate bronze embroidery. _'Yes'_ Shawn decided, '_I'm finally home.'_

"_So_...Shawn, are you going to get up, or is the floor just so comfy." The same voice from earlier said from above her. She was just about to answer when two pairs of arms wrapped firmly around her shoulders and lifted her up effortlessly. Instantly a pair turned her around and she was met with startlingly bright blue eyes.

"Long time no see Shawny K." The owner of the bright blue eyes said with a grin.

"I could say the same thing Flag." She said matching his grin. He pulled her into a tight embrace and she wrapped her arms around his middle. His strong arms made her feel loved and cared for, like she knew she was when she was around her two best friends.

"Oi, Kenny, you've had her long enough, it's my turn." The other pair of arms said before turning her around to meet their face. Shawn's gray eyes met dark and haunted blue ones as she took the initiative to pull him into a hug.

"Hey! Only Shawn can call me Kenny, to anyone else it's Flag or Nick." Nick said with flaring eyes.

"Sorry dude." The other boy said as he looked down at Shawn. Actually, he looked into her mop of black hair, seeing as how Shawn's 5'11" frame was only an inch shy of his.

"I missed you Troy." She said into his chest. He chuckled slightly before pulling away from her to get a good look. He looked her up and down, though not in a way hyenas would when eyeing a piece of meat. Shawn smiled slightly, she knew Troy would never look at her like that; he was just looking to make sure that every detail about her was just like he remembered.

"You too Shawny." He smiled slightly, "You look different, and the hair looks good." He said referring to her newly cut side bangs.

"I knew that was it!" Nick piped up from her side. She smiled to the both of them.

"Well, drifting away from the topic of changes, do either of you know why we're here?" She asked her eyebrow once again rose questioningly.

"Nah, Madame J. said she would tell us in a bit, she said she wanted us to catch up first." Troy answered as he led the trio to the couch underneath a window.

"Cool, so how were your summers then? Or at least what's started of it." Shawn asked the both of them as they sat on either side of her.

"Eh, not much, me and my dad went up to LA to go sight seeing or whatever, he said it would be a good bonding experience, whatever the hell that is." Troy said with a grin. Shawn looked at him slightly, he had lost his mother three years ago, to a battle with dragon pox, needless to say they weren't able to catch it in time, and she perished quickly. That was another thing that brought her and Troy so close, the both of them had lost their mothers, and while Shawn hadn't had a father up until recently, they could both still relate to the loss of a parent.

"Same with me, except me and the rents went down to Texas...why, I do not know." Nick said a glazed look in his eye as he remembered the past few weeks.

"But that's enough about ours. How was yours? I mean your dad was just proved innocent! You finally got him back after 13 years of not seeing him!" Troy said excitedly as both he and Nick looked at her eagerly.

"Technically he's still guilty in England...Which makes no sense, you'd think they would trust an auror...but noooooo...they had to be stupid and rely on Fudge." She said with a huff.

"Well the important thing is that the people 'round here know the truth...So how was it?" Nick replied, still looking eager.

"It was weird...I mean, I went through the majority of my life without a parent, and all of a sudden, wham! There's one ready and willing...it was odd, but still enjoyable. We got to know each other better, and Remus even came over this morning." Nick and Troy both nodded, satisfied before the three of them engaged in conversation over music.

Thirty minutes later a brisk woman walked into the room to find three above-average height teenagers lounging in her office, she smiled as she heard the parts of their conversations.

"So you really think he committed suicide?" Shawn asked Nick wide-eyed.

"Well, most signs pointed to it..." Nick said looking at Troy uncomfortably; Troy just shook his head, signaling that he was on his own.

"All signs pointed to the fact that my father was guilty...but he was innocent wasn't he?" She asked menacingly with a glare that could rival any mother.

"Well, yes...but, see--"

"--But nothing Nicolas Winters! There are so many things that say he was murdered! I don't understand why Minister Joneston won't try and find out." She pouted slightly towards the end.

"Have you asked him?" Troy asked.

"Yes, he said he didn't want to meddle into muggle affairs. I mean, for all we know, he could be a wizard. I was looking at my family tree not to long ago and there's a Cobain line that branches off my mother's family, one of them was my mothers' sister...but then again, who knows how common a name like Cobain could be. Besides, my mother's blood has been tainted with Squibs somewhere along the way, so they could very well be muggle." She finished in a huff.

"Tainted eh? You sure those Malfoy's aren't rubbing off on ya? Or is it just your snake side?" Troy asked with a raised eyebrow. She laughed at him and it was at this moment that Madame Johanson decided to make herself known.

"Ah, my dearies, it is lovely to see you again." The brisk woman that was Madame Johanson said cheerfully. She was of about average height and average weight, with graying black hair and hazel eyes that always held a mysterious twinkle in them. She was the inhibitor of the room they were currently in and Headmistress of Salem School of Talented Witches and Wizards.

"Good to see you to Madame J." Shawn said with a cheeky grin. The older woman sent her a scolding look before shaking her head and conjuring up a chair in front of them. She sat down and took a breath, ready to explain their reasons for being here.

"Well, I hope you all have had a good summer, and I'm sorry to pull you from your families so soon, but it appears as though Salem is in dire need of re-warding." She said holding her breath slightly.

"So why do you need us? I mean, why not get professional re-warders?" Troy asked confusion evident on his face.

"Because, for wards, you need someone who is attached to the place you are warding, and since you three are the only students who have any prior experience in warding--"

"--We've had two years with a warding specialist, I highly doubt that counts as prior experience." Nick interrupted.

"Ah, but you three are the only accelerated students at Salem that have had the training. The only other ones are just starting this year." She said still looking at them.

"Will we have help? I mean, surely we cannot be relied upon to re-ward this entire castle in just two weeks." Shawn asked skeptically.

"Ah, we have some of the finest Gringotts curse-breakers and warders coming to help us. Now if that is all, I can lead you to your rooms, and we will begin tomorrow." Their mentor said without so much as asking their opinions. The trio shared a look before nodding slightly and getting up. The headmistress led them out of the room and down spiral steps. As they walked out of the doors Shawn was met with the comforting sights of the corridors that had become so dear to her over the past few years. They were eerie, but calm, torches hanging, un-lit, on the walls as light poured in from the open windows. She reveled in the feeling of being home again. Madame Johanson led them up several staircases before they were in a hallway that Shawn knew too well.

"Wait! It's the Come-and-go-room! I needa see my drums!" Shawn shouted as a door appeared in the hall. She wrenched it open, and inside was a black and gray drum kit, just waiting to be played. She grinned and ran up to the stool, sitting on it lightly as she stroked the symbols and snares. It was a large set; it had two basses, 7 symbols, 2 hi-hats, 3 toms, and 2 snares. She pulled out her favorite drum sticks and immediately launched into Nirvanas "Come as You Are." The other three watched in fascination as the normally quiet girl (unless she was with her friends) went wild behind a drum set, and clapped as she finished.

"Nice job." Troy congratulated her as she finished.

"Thanks, it's so good to be back on a stool." She said with a dreamy look on her face.

"I bet."

"It's like being at home for real once again..." She said as she got up. She pocketed her drumsticks and the four proceeded out of the room. A minute later they came to a halt in front of a portrait.

"You three will be staying in the lion's den for the next two weeks." This immediately raised complaints from Shawn and Troy as they were Snakes and Eagles respectively.

"Why can't we stay in the Snakes burrow?"

"Or the Eagles Nest?"

"Because, this was the only place we could find suitable. Seeing as how we have not been able to take out a certain swamp left in the burrow." She said, sending Shawn a long, hard glare.

"Don't look at me." She said holding her hands up in surrender.

"I'm sure it wasn't you Shawn." Though her look betrayed her words.

"Tournament." She said to the portrait of a woman in tears. The distraught picture sent one look at the four of them and burst into tears while opening the door.

"You have to deal with that?" Troy asked wide-eyed.

"That's nothing...You should see the basilisk portrait down at the burrow. Jeez, that thing is scary as hell. Rumor has it that if you look it in the eyes, you'll get knocked out for a week." Shawn said in a mystical voice.

"Why hasn't anyone tried it?" Nick asked curiously.

"Because its eyes don't open very often...Supposedly only when one of its own 'eggs' has been killed." Shawn wrinkled her nose slightly before looking around. The room was nothing compared to the Snake dorms, but it would do. It had a staircase that split down the middle, which she assumed led to the dorms. The room itself was decked out in gold and scarlet, banners were hanging on the walls, and many armchairs and tables littered the floor.

"It's cozy; it beats the nest by a long shot, that's for sure." Troy said admiringly.

"Well, the nest is for eagles. Everyone knows Snakes live the best and most luxurious life-styles." Shawn smirked, but Nick and Troy knew that after 10 years in an orphanage, she was not un-grateful.

"Well, I'll leave you three to get settled in. If you want to go play Quidditch or something, go right ahead. And dinner will be in the Mess Hall at 8:00 PM if you'd like."

The trio nodded and went up to the dorms to place their stuff away. Shawn went up the staircase and to the right and found a room that said 'Shawn Black' on it. Nodding slightly she opened the door and was greeted by a lovely site. Inside was a king-size bed with an emerald canopy, the window over to the side had silver hangings and the wardrobe and drawers were made of ebony. The room reminded her of the Snake burrow and she sighed a content sigh. '_Yes.' _She concluded once again, '_It's good to be home.'_

AN: Well, that's chapter 1. Hope you guys liked it. Ummm...Not much to say thanks for the one person who reviewed and to everyone else that rated. I'm sorry I didn't update for so long, but I won't make any promises as to when the next one will be out. Please review, flames are accepted. I promise more will be revealed in later chapters!!! And sorry for any mistakes as well, my beta won't be back till about mid-August, so please bear with me till then!

AN: I realize that this story will be a bit confusing for the first bit, but I promise things will explain themselves in time. And if not, then just ask questions about stuff you don't get or that confuses you and I'll answer to the best of my ability without giving too much away!

Shawn

Disclaimer: I dont own HP!


	3. What do you expect

**Title: **_Reviving the Black Name: The story of Shawn Black_

**Chapter Title:**_ What do you expect?_

**Disclaimer:**_I doubt I really need this, but if I do, um...I don't own Harry P. Though I'm certainly flattered if you thought I did ;). Umm...If I was JK Rowling (which I'm not...) then I wouldn't waste my time on a Fanfic site under the name of Live2Sk8...i'm pretty sure that Mrs. Rowling doesn't skate...but I guess you never know. Um...right, later! OH! And read the Authors Note at the end!!_

_--------------------------------------Last Time----------------------------------------------------------_

_The trio nodded and went up to the dorms to place their stuff away. Shawn went up the staircase and to the right and found a room that said 'Shawn Black' on it. Nodding slightly she opened the door and was greeted by a lovely site. Inside was a king-size bed with an emerald canopy, the window over to the side had silver hangings and the wardrobe and drawers were made of ebony. The room reminded her of the Snake burrow and she sighed a content sigh. 'Yes.' She concluded once again, 'It's good to be home.'_

_---------------------------------------Onward-----------------------------------------------------------_

The next day, a Tuesday, Troy, Nick, and Shawn were making their way down to the Mess Hall for breakfast. It was 8:00 and they were all yawning and rubbing the tiredness out of their eyes.

"So, how'd you guys sleep last night?" Nick asked cheekily.

"Fine." Troy answered monotonously, still annoyed from this morning.

"Eh..." Shawn said annoyed as well from what had happened a few minutes before.

_-----------------------------------------Flashback------------------------------------------------------_

_'BEEP!' Shawn was jolted from her slumber by the sound of her infernal alarm clock blaring into her ear. She glared at it forcefully before sending a silencing charm at it, before allowing her head to drop down on her pillow. A few moments later she resolved to get up and get dressed. _

_After tripping and stumbling countless times on her way in and out of the bathroom, she came out fully dressed. She stood in front of the mirror in her wardrobe as she brushed out her gorgeously long black hair. She was dressed in a pair of soffee shorts and an old 'Nirvana' wife-beater. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and examined her charcoal gray eyes. She nodded at her reflection before tiredly stumbling out of the room, but not before taking in the Snake-like décor. Thinking she was still in the snakes burrow, she went to where the steps normally were and began to walk up—before she realized she was walking on air. This caused her to tumble down to the ground in an un-graceful heap. She fell with a squeak, and just lay there until she heard laughter from above her. Just as she turned to look up, another body fell on top of her, stealing the air from her lungs. She groaned in pain as the laughter increased 10 fold. The body above her immediately apologized profusely before getting up and pulling her to her feet._

_"You guys are idiots." The laughing voice, which she realized was Nick said grinningly._

_"Shut up, I thought I was still in the burrow!" Shawn cried out indignantly._

_"And I thought I was still at the nest!" Troy said in the same tone._

_"And in the burrow, we climb up, because the dorms are below the living room." _

_"And in the nest we go down a ladder, because in Eagle tower, the dorms are literally held above air, so we've gotta climb down to get to our living room." The two angry teens said simultaneously. They turned to give each other a look before glancing back at Nick who was now doubled over with laughter._

_  
"Shut up so we can go." Shawn said irritably. And with that, the three teens made their way down to the Mess Hall, one of them bursting into giggles every few seconds._

_-----------------------------------End of Flashback---------------------------------------------------_

A few minutes later the three magical teens arrived in the mess hall. They looked at each other slightly before launching open the doors and walking in. Inside, one long table was set up in the huge room. The room was tall and wide, enough to fit 1000 people comfortably. It had tall glass ceilings and large windows lining the walls. The hall was painted in gold and black, giving off a slightly dark, yet happy feeling. At the table sat seven chairs, three on one side and four on the other, at four of the chairs sat four people. One of them Shawn knew to be Madame Johanson, but the other three were unfamiliar. There were two men and one woman, one of the men seemed tall, and had long red hair that was pulled back in a pony-tail, also from what she could see, he had a fang earring in his left ear. The other man seemed as tall as the first one, and had black hair that was cut in a normal boy cut, she couldn't see his eyes though, as his bangs swept over them. Finally the girl was the first one to get her attention, she had bright bubble-gum pink hair that was spiked up in the latest 'punk' fashion, her face was heart-shaped and Shawn could see a bit of blue in her eyes from the profile view she had. She looked over to Nick and Andrew who were both studying the three new comers as well, who still hadn't noticed them, and nudged them both. They looked at her and she nodded her head over to them, at which they shook their heads promptly and stood back.

'_Jeez, Nick is supposed to be a lion...aren't they brave? Bloo—no I did not just try to use the word bloody...good grief I'm going insane.' _Shawn thought before sighing as she took a step forward. The boys still looked at her with distrust so she shook her head and walked up to the table. It wasn't until her tall frame was casting a shadow over the table that the four of them looked up.

"Ahh, and this was the girl—ahem—young lady I was telling you about. Salem's star pupil, Shawn Black." Madame Johanson gushed. Shawn's eyes widened as she blushed slightly at the praise.

"Oh, no, there are loads of people smarter then me." She said modestly, her hand flying to the back of her neck as she scratched it awkwardly.

"Oh from what Madame Johanson tells us, you really are one of the finest Salem has seen." The black haired man said. Now that Shawn could get a good look at his face, she saw that he was young looking, about in his mid-30's and had dark brown eyes, and slightly tanned skin, his voice was laced in a thick Scottish accent.

"Now Owen, be nice, can't you see the poor girl is about to burst?" The female said, her bright blue eyes looking at Shawn's bright red face. It was true, the look on her face made her seem as though she was going to burst.

"Owen Farlers, ward setter for the Ministry of Magic and for Gringotts." Owen said as he stuck out his hand. Shawn looked at it with a raised eyebrow before thrusting hers forth as well.

"Shawn Black, auror for the American Ministry and rising 6th year here at Salem." Shawn said politely.

"Nymphadora Tonks, auror for the Ministry. I'll be here to make sure the school is in ample protection while the wards are being worked on." The girl said with a grin, "Oh, and call me Tonks."

"Shawn." She smiled pleasantly, it would be good to have a girl around who wasn't the age of 60.

"Bill Weasley, curse breaker for Gringotts." The red-head said. He had bright blue eyes and loads of freckles on his face, she noticed that he, along with Tonks, had a strong British accent...much like—

"—Charlie Weasley's older brother?!" Shawn asked excitedly.

"Erm...yes, you know him?" He asked skeptically.

"Know him? Yeah, him and I were on opposite teams at Quidditch camp for the year we were both there. I managed to break his arm with a bludger...hope he isn't too upset about that." Shawn blushed at the last part.

"Bloody hell! You're the girl that broke his arm! Damn, he was moping around for weeks after that, going on about how a 12 year old girl managed to smash his arm into smithereens!" Bill looked just as ecstatic as Shawn was feeling.

"Yeah, that's me." Shawn grinned. She looked over at her two best friends, who were standing at the door looking awkward. She rolled her eyes and motioned for them to come over. Once they did, she introduced the two of them.

"Guys, this is Nick Winters and Troy Andrews, they're both auror's and 6th years here at Salem. Guys, this is Nymphadora Tonks, Bill Weasley, and Owen Farlers. They're here to help do the wards for the school." They all exchanged greetings as the three teens sat down, tucking in to their breakfast, none of them paying attention to the conversation. Once they were all done, Madame Johanson flicked her wand and the plates and food disappeared. Instantly, Shawn went into 'question mode.'

"So what exactly are we to be doing?"

"Like I said before, you will be strengthening the wards of the school."

"What's in it for us?" Shawn challenged.

"Extra credit, free reign over the Herbology lab, and allowance to go to Hogwarts for the tournament." Madame Johanson asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Like I need the extra credit. I hate Herbology, and I'll be old enough to enter the tournament anyway." She smiled lazily.

"Extra credit, entrance to the Herbology and Potions labs, and free passes to the restricted section?" Madame J. asked hopefully.

"Make it extra credit, free reign over the Herbology, Potions/Chemistry, Transfiguration, and Auror training facilities, _and_ entrance to the restricted section of the library, and you've got yourself a deal." Shawn said with a determined look.

"Fine, you drive a hard bargain Miss Black, but agreed. Should I assume that you two want the same benefits?" She raised her eyebrow to Troy and Nick. Both of them looked up before answering.

"No, we'll stick with the first deal. Neither of us will be old enough to enter the competition, so we might as well watch our best friend get slightly disappointed, right?" Their grins faltered as Shawn smacked them in the back of the heads.

"So...shall we get started on the wards then?" Shawn asked with a grin after a moment of awkward silence.

Ten Minutes later the odd group found themselves outside of the large castle. It was haunting, made of brick, and had a dark, gothic look about it. It had many towers on the upper levels, and at least 10 floors going up. The school was wide as well, stretching the length of at least 3 football fields. It was quite the size of a school that only suited to approximately 84 students and a teaching staff of about 12 professors.

"Okay, you all know how to take down wards. But the first thing I want you to do, Shawn, Nick, and Troy, is to feel the wards with your core. I want you to examine them, find the ones that are out-of-date, un-used, mistreated, or diminishing. I want them detangled, because you're not going to be able to take them down with them tangled, and then I want you to work on getting them down. Now, only you three can do this, because you three are the only ones with a connection to this place, Salem will do the rest." Madame J. said with a nod of her head. The three teens mentally jotted down what she was saying as she explained everything else to the rest of them.

"It will take them at least an hour to examine the wards, I would expect another 2 hours just to detangle them and to mark down the ones that need repairing. So while they are doing that, I'll show you around and to your quarters so you can get settled in. Shawn, I'm leaving you in charge. Come get us when you're done!" And with that, Madame J, Bill, Tonks, and Owen were off, leaving the teens to decipher something meant for people twice their age.

"Okay, how about this? The three of us take some time looking at the wards, in a bout 30 minutes, we'll stop, discuss what we think needs to be done. After that, Me and Nick can work on mentally stripping and repairing the wards, while Troy, you can work on mentally detangling them. Then we can get to the magic? Okay?" Shawn asked looking to her two companions for approval. The two boys nodded and Shawn conjured up a bench with her wand.

"Might as well sit down," She sighed, "this could take a while."

The three sat down quietly and took a few moments of meditation. Shawn looked down, her eyes focusing only on the blades of grass. After a few moments of searching for her nirvana, she got to it, and set out to find her inner core. Normally this didn't take long, as she occasionally had to draw into her inner core for power reserves, mostly at auror training sessions, where she expelled too much of her energy. It could take hours, even days, for her core to recover, but each time it did, it was stronger than ever. Which was why Shawn's core was fairly large once she found it. She imagined herself falling into the sea of fire that was her core, basking in the warmth of her magic. She looked around, trying to get a feel of the wards. She was instantly hit with a wave of color and raw power that she almost fell over. Above her was a rainbow of strands, mixed to make an ugly brown, which she assumed were the tangled wards. She drew into her core even more, trying to look past to the separate strands. She saw one—bright red—that indicated an anti-apparation ward. She guessed that it was from the 1850's, about 50 years after the school was built. She could tell by the lack of blue specks that were found in later versions of the anti-apparation wards. This meant that these wards allowed people with certain magical signatures to enter/exit the school. She mentally noted that one as one to be re-generated. She followed another strand, this time a pale blue, she saw that this one was a protection ward, a basic ward that was to prevent you from falling out of the windows. This one was centered around the owlry, as students tended to sit on the windows to get a good view of the fields around it. That one looked in good shape, and there wasn't a newer version of it, so she forgot about it and moved on. After doing this until she was certain she was done, having passed over many wards (anti-portkey wards, anti-aging wards, anti-rust wards, etc...) she came up with a pretty extensive list on what was to be done. She came out of her trance-like state, to see the boys coming out of there's as well.

"Did you guys get everything?" Shawn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think so." Troy nodded, Nick did the same.

"Okay, so what needs to be re-done?" Troy asked.

"Anti-Apparation, anti-portkey, anti-rust, the Quidditch wards are all out-of-date, weathering wards, shielding wards, and the anti-aging wards, all need to be re-done." Shawn sighed as Nick wrote all of them down.

"I didn't think that the anti-apparation wards needed re-doing." Troy stated looking thoughtful.

"Did you see how the anti-apparation wards lacked blue specks? The ones you see now-a-days have blue specks, which prevent everyone from apparition, the plain red ones mean that certain magical signatures are aloud."

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Nick nodded.

"Okay, so we've got everything we need to re-do listed, right? Now all we need to do is figure out how we're gonna re-do them. And then, re-do them. That sounds like fun doesn't it?" Troy asked in mock excited-ness.

"Alright, so Nick and I will see what we can do. And you can figure out how to untangle them. Cool?" Shawn asked. Troy nodded and went back into his trance-like state. She turned to Nick, and pulled the notebook closer to her.

"Alright, here's what we need to do: these two wards," She said pointing to the anti-apparation wards and the Quidditch wards, "will have to be done first. Because they take the longest, and we'll need to fully take them down, since you can't just magically upgrade them."

"Yeah, I agree. But while we're doing that one of us will need to be manning it, since the anti-rust wards are right on top of them, you don't want it to collapse." Nick said thoughtfully.

"Good point, so whoever's taking down those wards will need to be fast, because it'll take a lot out of whoever's holding the wards up." Nick nodded.

"It should be one of the adults who take down the wards, so don't worry about that. But I think you should hold them up. You've got the largest magical reserves out of us, and I know you'd be able to keep up continuous charm work for at least 5 hours before you even begin to dip into your core. So no worries, right?" He asked with his eyebrow raised high.

"Yeah, no worries." I sighed distractedly.

"What's up?" Nick asked quietly.

"Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking, why not just pull the bottom ward, in this case, the anti-apparation ward, and just let the rest collapse on themselves?" Shawn asked inquisitively.

"Because when wards collapse, they collapse hard, and we don't want any unnecessary risks here. You should know that once a ward collapses, it's impossible to repair." Nick said in a questioning voice.

"I know that, but why not just collapse all the wards in the school and start from scratch?"

"Do you have to always take the easy way out?" Nick joked, "Not all the wards need re-doing, if we did that, we'd be working well into next year." He sighed. Shawn agreed with him, he made a good point, but then again, this is Nick Winters, the smartest guy in their year, what did you expect?

AN: done.

_Sorry that that wasn't a long chapter, I just wanted to get it done. The next few chapters should include re-warding, some pranking, the world cup, and hopefully the guys heading back to school. I'd expect to have all those done within the next 3-4 chapters, after that we can get into the fun stuff!! Please review, I've only had one review so far, and I love it when I get them, so please let me know what you think!!! Also, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to update that often (not that I'm updating often as it is...) I just made my high school volleyball team, and we've got two practices a day, so hopefully I can get some writing time in between then, but I've still got summer homework that I've been putting off...Oh, and I'm __**thinking of turning this into a first person POV story, if you guys disagree with that, lemme know!**_

**-Shawn . **

**Disclaimer: I dont own this!**


	4. Explanations

_-——————————————Last Time——————————————————_

_"Do you have to always take the easy way out?" Nick joked, "Not all the wards need re-doing, if we did that, we'd be working well into next year." He sighed. Shawn agreed with him, he made a good point, but then again, this is Nick Winters, the smartest guy in their year, what did you expect?_

———————————————_Onward——————————————————-—-—_

Two hours later the three of us trudged into school tiredly. Troy was in between Nick and I, his arms around each of our shoulders, as we helped into the school. See, it had taken us longer than expected to untangle the wards, so it took a lot more of our energy to do so. I know two hours doesn't seem like a lot of work, but warding takes a lot out of you, and seeing as how Troy had the least amount of magical reserves of us, he's the one who's most drained. But that's not saying that Troy's weak. No, far from it, in fact, I'd say that his magical energy reaches that of about Albus Dumbledore's or Lord Voldemort's, and that's saying something.

Yes, me and Nick are more powerful than the both of them, but most Salem students are. Salem is the world's best invitation-only magical school. It's the place you go when you want to get the best education...if you're powerful enough to get in. The way they do it, is when you're eleven, they'll send you along with the rest of the students to your 'normal' magical school (i.e. Hogwarts, Salem School of Wizardry, DC's Magical Academy, etc...) and they'll measure your magical core. If they think you're strong enough, they'll send you along to Salem, with your parents' permission of course, and you'll learn to either become a Healer or an Auror. See, Salem is an accelerated school, we learn at twice the pace of Hogwarts, SSW, and DCMA, so by the time we're done with first year, we'd have the knowledge of a Hogwarts rising 3rd year. It's not very complicated actually. When you come to Salem, you're given a 'sorting' test. You answer a bunch of questions of what you would do in certain situation, and that will place you in a syllabus and a team. The syllabi are whether you will train to be a healer or an Auror. If you are chosen to be a healer, then you'll spend the first 4.5 years at school learning the basic subjects, but only in ways they could help healers, and the same for the defensemen.

Once you've taken the mid-terms for your 4th year that means you're done with the Hogwarts and SSW curriculum. After that you'll move on to certain Healer/Auror courses, like sword fighting, dueling, combat, muggle healing, anatomy, surgical courses, etc... But the reason that Nick, Troy, and I are all Aurors _now _is because we were put into the accelerated program. The accelerated program chooses three of the top defensemen of every year, and trains them to become Aurors. You start mid-way through third year, and end in the beginning of 5th year. It goes by really, really quickly, and it involves extreme training and endurance testing. As you learned earlier, us three were the ones to pilot the warding program for the accelerated, but they decided that we weren't the best test subjects (a story for another time...) so they went with the new accelerated people to try it. The greatest part about being in the accelerated program though, is that you get to go on real auror missions and are getting called from school a lot. Last year I was heading the American division in the search for my dad, it was gnarly. There's no accelerated thing for the Healers though, but we don't really care, if you didn't guess, there's a rivalry between Healers and Defensemen, no one really knows why, but there just is. Now, if you're in the accelerated program, you have the choice of both continuing on with your year, and doing everything you've learned over again, but at a slower pace, or you can take healing classes, starting with the 4th years. If you decide to take that, which is what I'm doing, then in the beginning of your 5th year, you take a crash course in healing studies, learning everything that the other students learned in their first 4 years, its really intense, but I managed to pass with flying colors. Troy and Nick can't handle studying though; they hate tests enough as it is, so they just took the easy way out. I mean, it's not a bad thing, I just like a challenge is all.

Damn...I sure can ramble a lot.

Now for the teams. There are four teams at Salem, much like the four Houses at Hogwarts. There are the snakes, which represent the cunning and the clever, the arrogant and the powerful, and the ruthless and the cold. Now, I may not seem like that, but I can be at sometimes. Normally, I show my cunning, clever, and arrogant side when I'm around my friends, I mean, it's just the way I am. But when I'm on the job at a raid, or anything like that, I'm ruthless and cold in my adrenalin, I literally go into auto-pilot, and I just keep going until it's over and I either collapse with magical exhaustion, or just inspect the damage. We are much like the Slytherins at Hogwarts.

Then there are the lions. They are the brave and fearless, selfless and dumb, and the ignorant and powerful. The lions are extremely brave, as you may see from Nick sometime later, they would die for their friends, and sometimes even there enemies, because their hearts are too weak to take the guilt. There is a borderline between dumb and brave, and sometimes they can cross it without meaning to. Ignorant and powerful, ignorance is just a natural to them, they tend to not pay attention to the world around them, they're the artsy ones, and powerful, well, the snakes and lions are the two most powerful teams, no one knows why, but we just are. These guys are the Gryffindor's of Salem.

Now let me tell you about the badgers. They're the loyal, best friends group. They're mostly made up of healers, because they like to help people a lot, but there was one year when all three accelerated students came from the badgers...so don't think they're total sissy's either. They can be smart if they want to, and a lot of the time their loyalty turns into bravery and selflessness. They're thought to be the weakest team, which is kind of true, but even still they're pretty strong.

Lastly there are the eagles. The eagles are the smartest of the smarts, they can be loyal, but mostly like to be around books, and they're a lot like snakes in that they're cunning and clever. They can tend to overlook small things that we might notice, which tend to grind my nerves a lot. A lot of people think the eagles are the team for the elite. Like, if you're the Quidditch/Hockey team captain, an accelerated student, and an Eagle, you're considered one of the best in the school, seeing as how you're smart, powerful, and fairly athletic. Troy was on his way to becoming just that, as he would have the spot of Quidditch captain in the bag next year.

So you probably think there's a whole lot of team rivalry, right? Wrong...Everyone at Salem gets a long, well, except for the Healers and Defensemen, but no one really gives a damn if you're a snake or a lion. I mean, just look at my friends, a snake, a lion, and an eagle. I know if we were at Hogwarts we'd probably get jumped for something like that...

Anyway...now that my rambling is done, I should tell you that the wards are untangled and ready to be fixed. We probably wont do that till tomorrow though, because Troy looks like he's about to collapse right there. Nick and I are going to make him some pepper-up potion later. So he'll be fine.

"Hey Shawn, do you have any lacewing?" Nick asked me as we both stood over a bubbling cauldron in the Potions lab.

"Check the cupboards, but get out some wormwood while you're there, we'll need it for later." I said as I stood back from the caldron and waited for it to become a light shade of pink, as it was now a dark midnight blue.

"Got it." Nick sighed as he stood by me and added the lacewing flies to the potion. Steam rose at an alarming rate and Nick stepped back cautiously. Less than a minute later, it was a light shade of pink, and we could move on.

"Add the essences of belladonna will you?" Nick asked as I followed his instructions. As I lightly sprinkled the ingredient he turned the ladle clockwise for every three sprinklings I put.

"Alright, now we just need to add the wormwood, and let it cool, and Troy'll be better in no time." I sighed as I turned the ladle counter-clockwise seven times before going clockwise once. I did this for another minute before the potion turned a blood red and that gave Nick the clue to add the wormwood. It sizzled for a moment before it turned a light blue.

"Alright, let's leave it for about 40 minutes,'' I glanced at my watch, ''and then we'll let Troy know. In the mean time though, what do you wanna do?" I was incredibly bored, and in no mood to do anymore potions. It may have been my favorite subject, but I despised it to the fullest extent. It's not my fault that both my parents were extremely gifted in potions...

Two weeks later, and the wards were down, and put back up, I had successfully beaten Bill's arse in Wizards Chess at least 20 times, and I had learned to hone my new-found skills as a metamorphagus. Though I admit, that was an interesting day to say the least.

——————————————_Flashback———————————————-————_

_It was the end of the trio's first week of working on the wards, and Shawn was sleeping quietly in her bedroom. _

_'BEEP!!!!' The sound interrupted the cold, still air as a hand emerged from the bed and slapped it off. Shawn groaned loudly and tumbled out of her bed as she stumbled into the bathroom. She got in, showered, got out, got dressed, and brushed her teeth. Finally she looked up into the mirror in her bathroom to inspect her reflection—_

_"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!" The scream pierced the morning air, and was said to have been heard from villages near by. No less than 30 seconds later, two half dressed teens burst into the bathroom door, wands out, ready for trouble._

_"What is? Where's the werewolf?" Nick asked his blue eyes wide and alert._

_"Shut up dipshit. Its morning, how the hell's a werewolf gonna be in here?" Troy asked in an annoyed voice as he dropped his wand arm to the side._

_"So what _is_ wrong Shawn?" Troy asked slightly worried._

_"I've got a zit!" She screamed as she pointed to a miniscule pimple on her forehead. Nick and Troy shared a look before simultaneously slapping their foreheads. _

_"Oh dear. The oh so perfect Shawn Black has gotten a zit, whatever shall we do?" Troy groaned, his voice dripping with sarcasm._

_"You've gotta little schmutz of sarcasm right there buddy." Shawn smiled before hitting his cheek lightly._

_"Let's go down to breakfast. You woke me up, and now I'm hungry." Nick groaned._

_"Me too. I could eat a whole hippogriff." Shawn sighed as the three made their way out of the lion's living room._

_"You know, for a girl Shawn, you eat a lot." Troy said quietly._

_  
"I know. I always do." The three walked the rest of the way silently, Shawn's head slightly bent as to hide her zit from the world. A moment later the three were sitting down and eating breakfast, as Tonks, Bill, and Owen marched in._

_"Wow Shawn, nice hair cut! Did you get it this morning?" Tonks asked with a grin. Shawn looked up questioningly but found that her left eye was covered by a bit of hair._

_"Huh?" _

_"Wow! Shawn?! When did that happen? I mean, your hair wasn't like that this morning!" Nick exclaimed as he conjured up a mirror. She looked at her reflection. Her wavy hair was up in a pony-tail, as it had been, but now a few locks of her black hair were swept over her left eye, covering up her zit._

_"So wait, it wasn't on purpose?" Tonks asked._

_"No, on the way down, the whole time I was focused on covering up this zit I had, and then boom!" Shawn said wide-eyed._

_"Hmmm..." Tonks said as she snatched the mirror from her hand. She held it in front of Shawn's face, "I want you to focus on turning both of your eyes green. Okay?" Tonks said her voice and facial expression serious._

_"Um...okay?" Shawn answered, though it was more of a question. She sighed and stared at her reflection, before closing her eyes. She imagined herself with green eyes. Bright, vibrant green eyes, glowing like emeralds, or like the color of the Snakes team. When she opened them, she was met by bright glowing eyes that had taken her own charcoal gray ones._

_"Well I'll be." Tonks sighed, "You're a metamorphagus! Tell me, does anyone in your family have that ability?" _

_"Um...Well, dad told me of a 2__nd__ cousin of his that is one. And I believe it's a common trait for the females on my mom's side of the family." _

_"Wicked." Nick and Troy grinned._

——————————————_End Flashback———————————————————_

So yeah, Tonks spent most of the weekend teaching me how to be all metamorphagus-like. Now I can change my appearance at will, which was totally cool.

The rest of the week went off without a hitch. We finished the wards, and by now all of us are tired and ready to leave. Though Nick, Troy, and I still have to go to Hogwarts for a day or two before we can head off to the Quidditch match. It'll be nice to see Viktor again, I must say.

So now, we were waiting in Madame's office to leave by floo. Our luggage and crap were at our feet, and I was incredibly bored out of my mind. But that's just how I am, so think nothing of it. Just then, the door to her office opened and in waltzed the slender body of our principal.

"You three ready to leave?" She asked quietly.

"Beyond ready." Nick yawned, which made Troy yawn, which of course, made me yawn."

"Alright, well, have fun at Hogwarts, and the Cup, and I will see you back here at the end of August." We nodded and stood up, "Oh! And Nicholas, please do try and catch the plane here this year, it was a shame you weren't able to last year." I smirked at Nick's bright red face and waited to get into the fireplace.

"Alright dear, you know what to say?"

"Yep."

I stepped into the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. I dropped the powder is I simultaneously screamed.

"Hogwarts Headmasters office! Password: Lemon drops!" And with that, I was zooming through grates, as fast as they come.

I tumbled out of the fireplace and landed on the floor with a dull thud. I lay there for a moment or two until I felt Nick land on top of me. We both groaned for a second, and then Troy just waltzed out, laughing it up as he saw us on the ground. Slowly, an aged hand lifted Nick off of me and Troy pulled me to my feet. I shook the soot out of my hair (which was styled in black French-braided pig-tails, each pig-tail having a streak of red going down the middle) and held out my hand.

"Hi! I'm Shawn Black!" I beamed enthusiastically.

"It is a pleasure Miss Black. I am Albus Dumbledore."

"Shawn! Wake up! Albus' got a portkey; it'll take us to the pitch! But we needa go in like, 10 minutes!" I woke up to that, and a hand that was slapping me repeatedly in the face. Does that sound fun to you?

"I'm up, I'm up..." I groaned and rolled off of my bed, landing with a dull thud on the floor. I groaned again as Troy picked me up and set me on my feet.

"Come on, get your clothes, and your bag, and we'll leave!" I sighed and as Troy shoved my clothes into my hands and pushed me towards the bathroom. I changed and brushed my teeth and walked out with a brush running through my hair.

"I'm ready." I yawned, as Troy pulled me out of the guest room that he and I shared.

"Let's go!" We walked through the halls at a fast pace, and eventually ended up in front of the stone gargoyle that was guarding Albus' office.

"Lemon drops." We both said at the same time. We climbed in and up the stairs, knocked on the door, and walked in.

Inside was Nick, Severus, and Albus, all waiting by an old tea cup.

"Ahh, and here they are now." Albus smiled to us both as we grabbed hold of the cup.

"Miss Black, Mr. Winters, Mr. Andrews, I will see you in 3 months." He nodded towards us as I felt a familiar pull towards my naval. And then, they were gone.

* * *

A/N: Hey dudes and dudettes, sorry it took me _way_ too long to get this up, but I've been really busy. Hopefully I'll update a bit over the next 2 weeks or so, but not this weekend because I've got an all weekend tournament coming up, wish me luck! Thanks to those that review, and to those that disagreed with 1st person, I hope you aren't too disappointed. Please review!

Disclaimer: Chapter 1, but just in case, i dont own HP!


	5. The World Cup

_"Ahh, and here they are now." Albus smiled to us both as we grabbed hold of the cup._

_"Miss Black, Mr. Winters, Mr. Andrews, I will see you in 3 months." He nodded towards us as I felt a familiar pull towards my naval. And then, they were gone._

-----------------------------------------------On with the story----------------------------------------

I landed with a thud on the ground as Troy fell on top of me. Nick landed on his feat (although a bit ungracefully) and gave us a cocky grin which disappeared as I glared. I looked out at the grounds and apparently a sly grin came up on my face, because Nick and Troy simultaneously wrapped their arms around my shoulders.

"Take that sly grin off your face young lady. There will be no trouble making here." It's adorable when they say stuff at the same time. I just shook my head at them and we walked on. I looked around in content as I saw all the different wizards coming together. We walked along the dirt path until we came upon the tent we were supposed to be bunking in for the night.

"Here we are, tent reserved for three, under Winters." Nick sighed with a smile as he walked in. Troy held the flap open for me and gestured with a slight bow. I giggled slightly and curtsied before making my way in behind Nick, Troy tight at my heels. I heard a sharp intake of breath from Troy, and he was right. The place was incredible. It had a flap door on the right and left, and a large couch at the right, a stove, microwave, fridge, and toaster towards the back, and was decorated in blues, greens, and reds.

"It's gorgeous." Troy and I both gave Nick a bewildered look, to which he blushed and mumbled for us to un-pack. I walked into the room on the left side, and it was surprised when I found that it wasn't much different from the Lion's den. I set my bag down on the bed and waved my wand mildly. That's one good thing about having an International Auror License at the age of 16, no underage magic.

Twenty minutes later the boys and I were walking out of the tent to go find our seats. I positioned my camo colored army hat slightly to block the sun. It was tattered and frayed at the ends and was splattered with green, blue, and yellow paint. We had seats on the Bulgarian side (courtesy of my old friend Viktor Krum) at the top of the stadium. At the entrance we saw Ludo Bagman "Hello dear, care to make a bet?" to which I promptly gambled 2 sickles that Ireland would lose. At the door I bought a bit of Bulgarian pins and Nick bought a Krum bobble-head, and Troy bought an Irish pin, which Nick and I glared at reproachfully.

We went to our seat quickly and sat talking for a few moments until the Irish were announced onto the field.

"Ladies and Gentleman please put your hands together, for Ireland!!" The players immediately flew out onto the field.

"There's Troy! And Mohan! And Mullen!" We screamed together as they flew by. I let out a very uncharacteristic squeal when Troy flew by…let's just say I'd had a crush on him for a while. The boys looked at me with sly smirks and I pushed them slightly.

"Now, please welcome, Bulgaria!" The Bulgarians flew out onto the field, Viktor Krum coming out last. He flew around the stadium and stopped in front of our section. I could hear the two Canadian girls behind me squeal with delight as Krum looked my way. I smiled coyly at him and bellowed out a great "BOOO!!!!!" which got me many looks from fans in the stands. I blushed slightly and sat down, getting ready to watch the game.

About an hour later we were walking out, Nick and I in a sour mood, while Troy was dancing around grinningly. I looked at him slightly and shook my head. I had lost 2 sickles, _and_ my good friend just lost his first ever world cup…that sucks.

We entered our tent quietly and made our way into our separate rooms, saying a slight 'g'night' to each other as I grabbed an apple from the cooler. I walked into my room and shut the curtain-like door. I pulled off my hat and stuck the apple on the table as I changed my clothes. When I finished I tucked my clothes into my back-pack and stuck my shoes right by the bed for easy slip-on access. I quickly finished my apple and threw it away, before cuddling into my bed.

That was my dream…Not many people knew it, but I had always wanted to fly for real fans. Not just the people who come out to support the junior athletes, but real fans. People that come from all over just to see _you._ With that last conscious thought, I fell asleep.

A few hours later I awoke to a light buzzing coming from my wand, which was on my nightstand. I turned over slightly and flung my arm out from under my pillow to grab the vibrating piece of wood. Without turning my face from the pillow I tapped it against the table and let out a muffled "Auror Black, state your coordinates." I turned my face out slightly so that the words could come out, though my eyes still remained shut.

"Shawn, it's me Bill. You guys needa get outta there. Death Eaters, levitating muggles! Here! At the cup! Get yourself out." At the words 'Death Eaters' I had already sprang out of my bed and slipped on my Nike running shoes. I made my way quickly out of my room and walked over to Nick's while I was still talking to Bill.

"We're coming out there. God knows your Ministry won't be able to catch anyone." I said into the tip of my wand as I shook Nick awake. He looked at me bewildered and I mouthed 'Death Eater attack, get up and get Troy, we need to go!' His eyes widened and he jumped out his bed, and exited his room to get Troy as he pulled his shoes on.

"No! It's too dangerous!" Bill said back to me, though it was getting kind of static-y.

"I'll have you know that I _am_ a fully-trained Auror, and could handle myself better out there than you. It's my job to defend against this. We're on our way." With that I tapped my wand against my leg twice, thus canceling the connection, just as Nick and Troy made their way out.

"Let's go. Death Eaters are levitating muggles here, at the grounds." They nodded and we exited our tent quickly. People were rushing towards us, heading towards the woods. It was chaos. We looked at each other and pushed our way through the crowd. I looked at the boys and nodded, and with that we each split up. Troy went left and disappeared in the crowd quickly, while Nick went right, I saw him show up in a clearing of tents and he sent me a thumbs up. With that in mind I pushed my way forward into the crowd. People were in a complete state of panic. I sighed irritably. The British need to teach their wizards how to react in these types of situations. I pushed my way through until I saw what was happening. I leapt out of the suffocating crowd and saw the mass chaos. Death Eaters, fire, muggles in panic-mode _major_. I growled. These Death Eaters were going to get it. I don't care who they are, nobody messes with muggles and gets away with it. I charged right on through, running at a full sprint. I came up till I was about 5 feet away from my first target and ducked behind a tent. I sighed and pointed my wand at him.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" I shouted and came out of my hiding spot. His wand slipped from his hand, and the muggle he was levitating began to fall. "Wingardium Leviosa!" I pointed to him and levitated him to the ground safely. I put a sticking charm on his feet, and a shield charm around him so he couldn't leave, and turned to my death eater. I picked up his rosewood wand and pocketed it. I looked up to where he was, but he was gone. I groaned and continued on my trek. I looked around for a Death Eater who wasn't fighting when pain hit me in the back. I grunted in pain as the castor kept the cruciatus curse on me for what felt like hours but was only five seconds.

"I always knew you would end up on the wrong side Shawn." A voice said disappointedly. I stood up painfully and faced the mask of the Death Eater.

"And I would have thought that you wouldn't attack a place where you knew I would be in a 10-mile-radius, Uncle Lucius…Merlin knows that I could take your entire Death Eater army, and live to tell the tale." Eh…so what's a little bluff to your uncle?

"We both know that's not true Shawn." He whispered maliciously. I could almost _see _the smirk behind his stupid mask.

"So you're levitating muggles to talk to me? Or do you actually wanna duel?" I spat out as I held my wand at the ready.

"Torensio!" I dodged the knee-blower curse and shot back a dislocater.

"Aventia!"

"Nocardo!" I winced as a color-blinding curse hit me, hmm…so this is what being like a dog feels like. I shook my head.

"Bomarso!" I sent a freeze-flame charm at him. It freezes the victim and gives them a burning sensation all over, as though in fire. It was a dark curse, but the gloves were off after that color-blinding curse.

"Such a dark curse Shawn," I cursed as he dodged it, "for such an innocent little girl." He smirked again, I can hear it in his voice. I let out a growl…no one calls me innocent.

"Denchiarno!" I shouted and shot him a bullet curse.

"Ferneo!"

"Protego! Extenguo!"

"Sectumpsempra!" I winced as the cutting curse tore open my cheek but shot back another dislocating curse. Yes! Right on target. It hit him on his wand arm.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted and caught his wand. I sent a tripping hex at him and crouched down to his face, being sure to step on his hand.

"You're my uncle," I looked into his eyes, "so I'm letting you go, but if I _ever_ see you with this mask again…oh, you will pay." I snapped his wand and dropped it on his chest before walking off.

I felt my wand buzz in my hand. I tapped it quickly.

"Shawn Black, state your coordinates." I said swiftly as I ducked behind a tent.

"Shawn! The death eaters are taken care of, come back to my tent, my dad's gone out to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione." Bill said quickly.

"Alright." I said and tapped my wand against my leg. I walked off with a yawn until I came up to the Weasley tent.

I walked in and shouted out Bill's name. He and two other boys walked out. The three of them didn't look too bad, only a bloody nose or a gash, but other than that they looked fine.

"Hey, how are you guys?" I asked as I got closer to them.

"We're fine, did you catch anyone?" Bill asked as he ushered me into his tent.

"No, but I've got the wand of one death eater, when I looked turned around to lower a muggle he was gone though." I sighed as I pulled out the wand.

"I can have it analyzed tomorrow." I said as I handed it to Bill. He turned it in his hands before handing it back.

"Are _you_ okay? You look a bit shaken." Bill asked as though expecting me to blow up at him.

"I'm fine; I just need to get this bloody curse off me." I pulled out my wand and pointed it at my eyes.

"Odracon Occulus!" I said swiftly as I swished my wand slightly.

"Wow! You had a color-blinding curse on you?" One of the two boys asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool though, I have to say." He smiled slightly.

"Oh, right, Shawn, these are two of my younger brothers, Charlie and Percy."

I stared at them for a moment before coming up with an idea.

"I'm Shawn Black, nice to meet you." I smiled sweetly as I stuck my hand out. The one named Percy (the one who seemed amazed by the color-blinding curse) stared at me in awe, but Charlie looked at me calculatingly.

"Y-Y-You're Shawn Black! You're one of the best aurors in the American Squad! It's an honor to make your acquaintance." Percy shook my hand reverently. I stared at him wide-eyed but nodded anyway.

"Perce, calm down." Bill said shortly. Charlie raised an eyebrow at me.

"Good to see you again Crash…"

--------------------------------------------(Fin)----------------------------------------------------------

AN: Okay…there's the chapter, sorry if it took so long. Anyway, uhh…yeah, here's a list of the spells used in this chapter (made by moi):

Torensio (Tor-EN-She-oh): The knee-blowing curse, basically…it blows your knee out.

Aventia (Aven-TCHIA): Dislocating hex. Meant to hit the shoulder, but can dislocate any joint.

Nocardo (Nor-Ca-D-OH): Color-blinding curse. Dark curse.

Bomarso (Bomb-ARSO): Freeze flame charm. It freezes the victim and gives them a burning sesation all over, as though in fire. Dark curse.

Denchiarno (Den-CHI-Ar-No): Bullet Hex. It has the same effects as a bullet would, only intensified.

Ferneo (Fer-Nee-Oh): Like the cruciatus curse, only legal and slightly less painful. Dark curse. Block-able

Extenguo (Ex-Ten-GEE-Oh): Variation of the blasting hex, it focuses on the spot it hits and shatters all in its path.

Odracon Occulus (Odra-CON Occ-U-Lus): Counter-hex to the blinding curse.

Kudos to anyone who can guess how I got the name for the color-blind counter-hex. ;)

-Shawn

Disclaimer: I dont own HP!, thats JKR!


	6. The Bet

_----------------------------------------------------Last Time-------------------------------------------------"I'm Shawn Black, nice to meet you." I smiled sweetly as I stuck my hand out. The one named Percy (the one who seemed amazed by the color-blinding curse) stared at me in awe, but Charlie looked at me calculatingly._

_"Y-Y-You're Shawn Black! You're one of the best aurors in the American Squad! It's an honor to make your acquaintance." Percy shook my hand reverently. I stared at him wide-eyed but nodded anyway._

_"Perce, calm down." Bill said shortly. Charlie raised an eyebrow at me._

_"Good to see you again Crash…" _

"Dammit Charlie…no one is supposed to know about that nickname!" I muttered as I gave him an incredulous look.

"Sorry _Crash_ but I couldn't resist mate." He put extra emphasis on the nickname and sent me a wink.

"So how's your arm _Carol?"_ The cards were on the table now.

"Carol?!" Bill snorted.

"Shut up Shawn…it was a fluke and you know it." Charlie blushed…ew…he clashes with his hair…

"It's not a fluke when it happens five times Charles…" I sighed.

"What exactly happened five times _Carol?"_Bill asked with interest--and a smirk.

"Nothing..." Charlie mumbled while looking down at his feet. Awww…he's embarrassed.

"Hah! Yeah right!"

"Let it go will ya?" Charlie whined…Hah! Yeah, I'm good.

"Whatever…_Carol_." I whispered the last part before turning to Bill.

"Alright, I'll send the wand to the lab when I get back, I'll have it tracked and back to your ministry by noon…my time." I smiled before walking out of the tent…bloodied and all.

----------------------------------------August 30, 1994-------------------------------------------

"Are you sure you have everything you need Shawn?" Dad asked for like…the eightieth time since I've been packed to leave.

"Yes dad, we've gone through this like…87 bazillion times. I'm all packed for bloody school!" I groaned.

"Are you sure?" He asked once more.

"I'm seriously about to AK you in like--10 seconds." I said menacingly as I pulled out my wand.

"Okay okay! Jeez, try and make sure someone's all packed for school, and it becomes the bloody Spanish Inquisition!" He mumbled as he walked into the kitchen, me following right behind him.

I was supposed to leave for school in about 30 minutes. It's a very complicated way to get there actually. I have to floo down to Dulles Airport in Washington DC, then I have to walk through terminal 82S which doesn't exist to muggles, by the way. After that, I board a plane with all the other people that live along the East or in Canada, and be on my way to Salem.

Like I said, complicated.

"You're so strange." I muttered.

"So, are you gonna enter the Quad-wizard?" He asked me. The Quad-Wizard Tournament is a tournament between four schools: Beuxbatons, Durmstang, Hogwarts, and Salem. We personally think it's unfair to the other kids, because we're so much more powerful, which is true. Anyway, a champion from each school is chosen, and they compete in 3 deadly tasks, someone wins, they get money, we all leave.

It's all quite stupid if you ask me.

"Probably. Why?"

"I don't think you should…it's dangerous." He said concernedly.

"Oh yeah, cuz being an auror isn't?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm just saying…" He held up his hands in defense.

"Maybe you should just stop talking." I said with a smirk.

"You're such a teenager." He rolled his eyes. I raised my other brow.

"You're such an old man." I bit back. He looked shocked at this, before pouting.

"I'm not that old." This made me chuckle.

"Right…and I'm not that much of a teenager."

"When are you supposed to be leaving?" He asked annoyed.

I glanced down at my watch.

"Now." I said as we made our way into the living room.

I grabbed my trunk that was beside the door and waved my hand over it. It shrunk down to pocket size and I stuffed it into my drawstring before hoisting it onto my shoulders.

"So…I guess this is good-bye." I said as I averted my eyes.

"Yeah kid…for now at least." Dad's voice was full of emotion. I snorted silently.

"Umm…I know that sometimes, I can be a pain, and I--uhh--I want you to know that it was nice to have a father figure around, even if I denied it at times." I blushed.

"You are so much like your mother." He whispered with tears.

"I love ya dad." I said as tears slid down my cheeks. I grasped him in the first real hug I've given him since I met him.

"I love you too Shawn." He whispered and kissed my forehead.

"I'll come back for the holidays." I sniffled and backed away.

"Please do." He smiled slightly.

"Don't do anything stupid now, ya hear?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Aye Aye." He muttered.

I stepped into the fireplace and situated myself.

"It really was good to have you back dad." I smiled.

"You too Shawn, you too." He nodded.

"DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN WASHINGTON DC!" I screamed as I dropped the powder.

Little did I know, he would never look at me the same way again.

I sat on the plane quietly.

This is what I always do.

The only difference, is that this year, I get to sit in _FIRST CLASS!!!!_

It's a sixth/seventh year privilege.

The second and third years all sit in coach, the fourth and fifth years sit in business class, and _we_ get to parrr-tttayyyyy.

It's pretty intense.

So now, I'm waiting for the plane to take off.

Oh yeah, and I'm waiting for Troy and Nick to get on here…

Not like Nick'll actually show this year.

He missed the plane last year.

Because he is incredibly dumb. And lazy. And a procrastinator. Though, I'm not sure that's really a good adjective.

Anyway, neither of them are here yet. So I'm kind of depressed.

This is soooo borrrriinnngggggggg!!!!!

"Hey Shawny!" I heard two voices shout as they sat down around me. It was Freck and Spitz!

"Freck and Spitz, my main home-skillets!" I grinned at them.

"Please don't ever--"

"--ever say that again." They said, both looking at me.

Freck and Spitz MacDonald are actually named Jack and Kevin. We call Freck, Freck because he has loads of freckles and hates them, I know, its not very original, but it stuck. And Spitz, well, he used to have a lisp so he'd spit when he talked, so we called him Spitz, and like Freck, it just kind of stuck.

"How was your guys' summer?" I asked with a smile. Both of these guys were Snakes, the other two in my year, and were both Healers.

"It was pretty good, Mom and Dad took us to Germany and then we went to Australia to get some hard-core surfing in." They both did look a bit tanner, but they still looked the same. Same tall height and blue eyes, but Freck had bright red hair that was cut in a short-cut and Spitz had shaggy blonde hair that skimmed past his ears, and of course, Freck was covered in freckles, even more so than normal.

"That's insane dude! I didn't get _any_ surfing in at all this summer." I pouted, they looked at me, scandalized.

"You didn't surf?" Freck admonished.

"Nope."

"Not once?" Spitz clarified.

"I thought we established that." I said sarcastically.

"I should string you up by your thumbs and feed you to the first year pixies." Spitz muttered, looking disappointed.

"Look, first village weekend I'll go down to Cali with you guys and we can ride some waves alright? Even _with _the summer in Australia, I could still beat you both." I said cockily.

"Haha! Wanna--"

"--bet?" Freck started as Spitz finished.

"Depends on the stakes." I said coolly.

"Loser has to run the mess-hall _buck-naked_ _and_ sing one entire verse and chorus of a song to the winners liking." Spitz said menacingly.

"And the kid who comes in second?" I asked uncaring.

"The loser decides what they get to do." Spitz grinned evilly.

"How is that fair?" Freck asked outraged.

"Well, the winner just decided what the loser would do, so its only fitting that the loser gets to decided something as well." Spitz smiled calmly.

"What about the kid in second? How come they don't get to---hey! Who said you're gonna win? You know that Shawn and I are better than you!" Freck said indignantly.

"Haha, you just admitted to my amazingness." I butt in, before clearing out again.

"Look guys, how bout this? Loser does what Spitz said, and the winner and loser decide what happens to the kid who comes in second, but it _can't_ be as bad as the loser. Got it? It'll probably just be like…kitchen duty for the firsties for a week or so." I said with a sigh.

"I like that." Spitz nodded.

"Me too." Freck said as well.

"So it's a bet?" I asked.

"Hold up--" Spitz started as he waved my hand down.

"--Who's going to judge?" Freck asked suspiciously.

"We'll get one impartial seventh year from each team. One DM from the Snakes and Badgers, and One Healer from the Eagles and the Lions. Sound fair?" I asked.

"Fair enough, we'll get the judges when we know the first village weekend." Freck said.

"Alright…So, shake?" Spitz said. We all nodded and spit on our hands. Nothing could seal the deal more than saliva.

"Deal." I said as I struck my hand out.

"Deal." Said Spitz has he shook it.

"Deal." Said Freck as he laid his on top of ours.

It was our three-way shake thing.

"So boys…may the better girl win." I smiled. This would be fun.

--------------------------------------------(fin)----------------------------------------------------------

A/N. So that was a little over 5 pages, I know, not long, but I need to get some of these small fillers out of the way before the tournament, just so you can get a little back info on Shawn. I realize that Shawn is becoming very Mary-Sueish, and that isn't my intention at all. Shawn has flaws, just like everybody else, she just tries too hard to be perfect, you'll see her flaws in a few chapters. She has a lot, but on the things she can control, she tries her hardest to be best at.

Like usual, if you have any questions or comments, please let me know. Please review guys, I'm not getting that many, and they really warm my heart to see them. DH was amazing, for those of you who have read it, and those who haven't…what are you reading fanfiction for? GO READ CANON! Alright, those are my two cents.

By-the-by, I wrote this the night before my high school volleyball first cuts. I won't post it until tomorrow, just to tell you guys how I did.

-Shawn

Disclaimer: You know it…It's not mine!

Update: I made my school's JV team! I'm so excited!!!


	7. I'm a lover, not a fighter

**Chapter 7: I'm a lover, not a fighter.**

_"Alright…So, shake?" Spitz said. We all nodded and spit on our hands. Nothing could seal the deal more than saliva._

_"Deal." I said as I struck my hand out._

_"Deal." Said Spitz has he shook it._

_"Deal." Said Freck as he laid his on top of ours._

_It was our three-way shake thing._

_"So boys…may the better girl win." I smiled. This would be fun._

* * *

So Troy and Nick ended up showing up about 2 minutes before the flight was set to take off…and now we had 5-6 hours of pure nothing to do as we made our way to Salem, Oregon. We did loads of things, I painted my nails silver, we played a bunch of card games, ranging from Go Fish, to Texas Hold 'Em, to Egyptian Rat Screw (which I own at by the way). Then we talked for a long time, and then Nick realized he forgot to do his Herbology homework, we had to identify 100 plants and their defensive uses…he only had two. 

Needless to say, there wasn't really a dull moment on this flight.

And now we're in the mess hall, each of us going our separate ways to our circular tables by our teams. The tables go (in order from left to right) Snakes, Lions, Badgers, Eagles. And there are 4 circular tables, the seventh and sixth years sit closest to the doors, and the first years sit all alone closest to the teachers table. The boys and I went to go sit at our table, while waving to the 2 girls and one guy from 7th year.

"Hey Shawn, how was your summer?" Tory asked as we sat down next to her. Tory was a seventh year DM and not in the accelerated program, sadly. She was short, only about 5'3" and had brown hair and green eyes. She was captain of the quidditch team, and our keeper.

"Not too bad, did some stuff, went to the world cup, but I didn't really do much else." I said as I sat down, waiting for the food to appear. The firsties wouldn't show up till the end of the week, because they still needed to be tested and all that hooplah, so the first day back is really uneventful. We just sit, talk, eat, and then Headmistress J. makes a couple of announcements and we go to bed. Blah, blah, blah.

I had a similar conversation with the other girl, Ryann, who looked almost the same as Tory, except she was a little taller and had hazel eyes, before I turned back to the boys and dug in. After we were all fed, and made some small talk, Johanson stood up.

"Welcome back students, this year will surely be eventful." I snorted, yeah right.

"First, I would like everyone to note that the hockey and quidditch cups have been cancelled this year, due to our school entering the Quad-Wizard tournament." There was an immediate outbreak of yells and whispers.

"Would those students who wish to attend Hogwarts sign up with their team leaders by Friday, only those who will become 17 by October 31st may enter." She said with a look to each of the tables. There was a collective nod from the school.

"That's basically it everyone, the sorting ceremony will be on Friday at noon, so you have Friday off, and 2nd years and above are allowed to attend the village weekend. It's only 7 o'clock right now, so you can mingle for the next couple of hours, but remember your curfew. For those of you who conveniently forgot, it is 9:30 for 1st and 2nd years, 10:00 for 3rd and 4th years, 10:30 for 5th years, and 11:00 for 6th and 7th years. Also, would the accelerated students from 5th years and up please come to my office sometime during the night so I can give you your assignments and passes for the year? Thank you, and have a good night!" She finished before stepping down from the head table and walking out of the mess hall. I looked to Freck and Spitz, they nodded and we got up and found our way to Nick and Troy.

"When do you guys want to go get our assignments?" Troy asked as Nick and I neared him.

"As soon as possible, I wanna know who I'm working with this year." Each year we get assigned to a squadron of about 5 or 6 other aurors and we work with them on special assignments. Last year I was with a bunch of Brits working to find Sirius Black…of course, at that time I didn't know he was innocent.

"I bet you're not with either of us." Nick said sadly. We were never together, even in training, Nick trained with the East Auror Division, Troy trained with the West, and I trained with the Canadian Division, not fun.

"Wanna make it official?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ten bucks says that we aren't together." Nick sighed, we bet American money, not Wizarding money.

"Fifteen says you two are, but I am in a total other division by myself." I said confidently.

"Twenty says that you and Nick will be together, but I'll be in the East Division all alone." We did the three-way handshake.

"Well, only one way to find out." I said. The boys nodded and Freck and Spitz sighed. We all linked arms and made our way to Headmistress J.'s office. Oh what fun this year would be…

* * *

We entered the Headmistress' office quietly, as three 5th years came out looking upset. We cocked our heads at them, but nodded all the same, we were like that last year. 

"You two are gonna have to stay outside." I said turning to Freck and Spitz, "it's top secret business, no joke." I said as they laughed. They nodded at my solemn look and walked out the door. The three of us that were remaining turned to look at our headmistress.

"Hello, kids, how was the remainder of your summer?" She asked as she poured us each a glass of coke.

"It was pretty cool; I didn't really do anything, which was nice for a change." I smiled, as did Nick and Troy. They both gave similar answers.

"That's good, now, for your assignments." She rifled through some files and pulled out three manila folders, one had Black, Shauna written across the top, with a picture of me in auror robes paper clipped to the top. One had Winters, Nick and a picture of him, and the last had Andrews, Troy with Troy's picture on it. We all clutched hands.

"Nick, you will be stationed with the Eastern Division, your first mission is to help strengthen wards in all major Wizarding parts of the East coast, I will call you in on your first day." Nick sighed, he hated warding more than anything in the world. And I swear I saw Madame J. smirk. I raised an eyebrow…so Madame J. could be evil too?

"Shawn, you will be with the Canadian Division again," I snorted, "your mission is to collect all information you can about this Ryan Darker, and bring it back to HQ by the end of the month. During this time you will be called in to give brief reports, and as well as be on the first line of any attacks made by him and his followers." I twitched. I _hated_ research beyond anything, but I suppose I should be grateful, at least I was getting _some_ field work. "You will have access to all private government records, as well as any school records you may need to acquire." I perked at the school records part…this could be _tres interessant._

"Troy, you will be with the Western Division this year." He pumped his fist at this. According to him, the Western Division had all the hott babes, but I think that is a load of bull. "Your squadron will be working along side Shawn's squadron to work against Ryan Darker, you do not have a set mission, only that you are stand-by patrol for any attacks made by Darker." Troy swore quietly, he hated stand-by, he wasn't one to sit and wait for someone to be incapacitated before he could do his job, he liked to do it then and there.

"You all have your assignments, here are their details, and I will call you in if I receive any information." She handed us our manila folders and we walked out quietly.

"This is so dumb, I _hate_ research! She knows that!" I complained loudly.

"It's not like I like warding, Shawn." Nick said quietly. We both turned to Troy, who stood there quietly.

"Who won the bet?" We all looked at each other, none of us won the bet, since none of us were working _together_, but technically, Troy and I would be working along side each othr, so Nick didn't win either.

"I don't think anyone did." Nick sighed. We all groaned, no body likes a void bet.

* * *

For the next couple of hours before curfew, we really didn't do anything. We walked around for a little bit, and explained to Freck and Spitz about our warding experience over the summer. We skated on the outdoor basketball court that was in the courtyard, before Nick finally conjured a basketball and we played a little 3 v 2, me and Freck verses the rest of the boys. We lost. Horribly. 

And now, I'm walking into the Snake lounge with Freck and Spitz, only about 2 minutes to spare before curfew. We were laughing at a story Spitz told us about his close encounter with a shark this year. That boy is endlessly amusing. My eyes fell upon the lounge, and a smile graced my features. This was home.

The walls were painted a bright emerald, with white trimming all around. There were somewhere between 8 and 12 square tables that lined the right wall, all with about 5 feet spaced in between them, each one had four chairs around them. On the left wall, a good 50 feet away from the right wall, were two huge bookcases, one that held Healer texts, and the other held Defense texts. The ground was covered in a nice silver plush carpet, with a green strip that was a walkway to down to the dorms. There were about 7 armchairs scattered around, and two L-shaped sofas, one on either side. Needless to say, our lounge is pretty amazing.l

We walked in a bit further and collapsed onto one of the sofas. There was a collective sigh, before I sat up.

"I'm gonna head up, we have classes in 8 and a half hours, and I'm beat." I yawned as I got up from my seat. I helped the boys and we made our way along the walkway, before coming to a slide. Like, literally, its actually a tube slide.

"You first, or me?" Freck asked politely.

"I'll go, I'll wait down at the bottom so we can go to our rooms together." I said as I stepped into the chute. I flung myself down and waited about 4 seconds before I hit the bottom. I got out of the slide and stood by it to wait for the boys. The slide empties out into a long hallway. There are 14 doors, the closest to the slide being the 7th year dorms. On the right side are the boys dorms, and on the left are the girls. Freck tumbled out of the slide, and soon after him Spitz, and we walked over to the second set of doors.

"I'll meet you guys out here at 7:00, how's that? That gives us time to grab breakfast and get to our classes." I said as I pulled out my room key from around my neck. The boys nodded and Freck pulled out his.

"Night." Freck and Spitz said.

"Night, boys." I smiled as I opened the door.

So, I've been alone in this room for the past 5 years. Sometimes, I wish I had roommates, but most of the time I like my privacy, besides, it isn't as if the rest of the team isn't 5 steps down the hall or so.

One benefit of no roommate is that I get this huge space to myself. The room is big, enough to fit two people. I've got a full sized bed on the left side, with a nightstand on both sides. One would hold my lamp and other little things like quills and pens, and the other side is my 'remember-side.' I normally put my case files, and a bunch of little post-it notes on that side, and I check it once in the morning, and once at night, to make sure I'm always on track. Going over, on the wall directly in front of my door is a desk, which holds my WizNet (basically a wizard version of a laptop which isn't powered by electricity, but by magic), another lamp, and a pull out desk thing that I can do all my homework on. It has a shelf on top of it, where I normally put most of my school books, so I can have easy references when I'm doing late night essays. On the right wall I have a huge wooden armoire. It's old fashion, one shelf on the bottom, and a closet hanger on top. Two drawers beneath the doors, and a cute, old-fashioned key, which I think pulls the whole thing together. Next to the armoire is a plush armchair that I never really sit in, I only ever do when I need to figure something out. Like last year, I almost always sat in that chair when I was trying to figure out my dad's case; it's like my imagination chair or something. And of course, I don't get my own bathroom, I share with the two seventh year girls, and the one fifth year girl. The fourth, third, second, and first years all share one bathroom, but it's big. It's got about seven showers and six stalls, so it's useable. Of course, ours has a Jacuzzi, and a bunch of bath/shower things, not just regular showers, but what would you expect for the best right?

So now I'm unpacking all my stuff, with my wand, because I can do that. I waved the ebony stick listlessly and watched as everything zoomed to their designated spots. With that over with, I plopped down at my desk, opened my WizNet, and set my manila folder down. I stared at it for a few moments, before opening the folder with a sigh. Inside was a stack of about 10 or so papers, all which were supposed to detail my mission and give me information on Ryan Darker. I looked at the first page, it was a detailed biography of Ryan Darker, along with a picture of him. He wasn't bad to look at, I'll admit. This guy is only in his mid twenties, with dark hair, and fair skin, blue eyes, and from what I can see, a nice build. If he wasn't a deranged murder, I would not mind dating him in the slightest.

**Name:** Ryan Darker

**Age:** 25

**D.O.B:** 1/13/1979

**Height:** 6'1"

**Weight:** 175 lbs.

**Eye Color: **Blue

**Hair Color:** Brown

**Early Life:** Ryan grew up in the outskirts of Washington DC, he has one younger sister, who attended DCMA, and played for the school Quidditch team. He was set to attend DCMA, but was accepted to Salem School for the Gifted, and later joined the Eagles team. Here he excelled as a Defenseman, joining the accelerated program, and becoming one of the Western Divisions best aurors to date. He later went on to be the Eagles Quidditch captain, and graduated with high honors. He went directly into the force, working on raids, and rose in the department, before quitting, quite unceremoniously. No one has yet to find the reason why.

**Criminal Record:** Numerous attacks on Wizarding villages all up and down the West Coast, does not seem to be targeting anyone, only killing those he meets. Charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, large-scale destruction, and so forth.

I cocked an eyebrow at the page, this guy seemed like your regular lunatic, albeit, a bit smarter. Rubbing my tired eyes, I leafed through the rest of the pages, before shutting down my WizNet, and placing the papers back in the folder. I set the folder down on the night stand, and changed into my pajamas, before crawling into bed.

Once again, it was good to be home.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring in my ears. I squinted at it, seeing that it was 6:30, and I had half-an-hour to get ready. I hit the off button and yawned loudly. I sat up and grabbed my bag of toiletries from my nightstand, before getting up and stretching out my back. I grabbed my robe from behind the door and walked outside, putting my room key in my pocket as I locked the door. I scuffled over to the bathrooms and heard the other girls in the showers. I walked into an empty one and placed my stuff outside of the curtain. I took a quick, 15 minute shower, and washed my hair before I came out with a towel wrapped around me. I put my robe over my body and pulled out my wand, casting a drying spell on my hair. I walked over to the mirror and brushed my teeth and washed my face, before using the bathroom. I glanced at the clock, it was 6:55, I had five minutes to change and meet the guys. 

With a sigh, I rushed back to my room and opened the door. I got in and opened my armoire, before grabbing my uniform. I left the door opened so I could use the mirror as I dressed into our school uniform. Our uniforms are cool, the girls wear pleated, plaid skirts, and the guys wear black slacks. Our skirts are color-coded to our team, so mine is a green and gray skirt, and the lions are red and yellow, the badgers are yellow and black, and eagles are blue and bronze. On top we have the choice of wearing a white button up long-sleeved or a short-sleeved black polo. I normally stuck with the polo. I slipped the shirt on over my head, and then the skirts over my legs.

"Crap, I didn't shave!" I whispered, oh well, time for metamorphagus powers! I willed the hair to disappear, and POOF! It did!

Now, for my hair. I looked at my curly mass of rats nest, before closing my eyes in concentration. I opened them and saw my hair in nice and loose ringlets. I opened my bag of toiletries and pulled out eyeliner, I applied a little and then some mascara, before grabbing my school bag and key and walking out the door. I glanced down at my watch as I turned to lock it and saw that I was seven minutes late. Not bad.

"Sorry guys." I said sheepishly as I stood next to Freck and Spitz.

"It's cool, Shawn, but let's go get breakfast really fast, cuz we still have to come down to get our books later." Freck said as he lead the way up the staircase. There is a staircase next to the slide, so that we don't have to climb up the slide to get out of the dorms.

We took a shortcut to get to the mess hall, and sat down at the 6/7th year round tables. On the table was bread, butter, orange juice, apple juice, milk, and some bagels and fruit. Of course, they make us work for our food here. We have to toast our food, conjure goblets for our drinks, and conjure silverware. Thankfully, kids learn this within the first two months, so they're not totally screwed. Of course, us older kids being amazing and whatnot, always help them out their first couple of weeks, so that they don't starve.

I picked up a bagel and held my wand to it, as Freck did the same with his toast. Spitz took the easy way out and grabbed an apple. Health nut…

"Incindio." I whispered as Freck did the same. I held the flame charm at a controlled temperature and turned my bagel around it until it toasted well enough. Even after six years, I'm not very good at toasting my food.

I bit into my bagel dry as we walked up to the teacher's table. We went up to Mrs. Handle, who was our team leader, and grabbed our schedules.

"Shawn, Madame J. wants to talk to you about your schedule." She whispered as she handed me mine. I nodded and walked over to Madame J. as Handle gave Freck and Spitz their schedules.

"Mrs. Handle said you wanted to see me, Madame?" I asked her as I stood in front of her nervously.

"Yes, Shawn, I don't think you should continue your healing studies this year--" She started.

"--But--" She cut me off.

"--if you are going to go to Hogwarts, there will be no time for you to have private tutoring, as well as keep up with your duties, I'm sorry." She said sympathetically. I nodded and walked back over to Freck and Spitz.

"What--"

"--Did she want?" They asked.

"I cant take healing this year, since I'm gonna go to Hogwarts." I said depressed as I bit in once again into my bagel.

"That's okay Shawn, healing isn't all that great anyway!" Freck exclaimed.

"Yeah! The human body is _disgusting_." Spitz said distastefully.

"Yeah, I guess. Besides, I know I'm going to be an auror anyway, so I might as well breeze through these next two years eh?" The Canadian-ness is coming back to me.

"Atta girl Shawny, we'll see you later, alright?" They said as they walked off to their first class. I looked down at my schedule.

**1****st**** Period**: Integrated Defense

**2****nd**** Period:** Potions and Herbology in Defense

**3****rd**** Period:** Conditioning

**4****th**** Period: **Weight training

**5****th****/6****th**** Periods: **Lunch

**7****th**** Period:** Charms and Transfiguration in dueling

**8****th**** Period:** Weapons training

Today was an A-Day, meaning I had all my odd-period classes. We have four classes a day, each about an hour and a half long, and a 10 minute break in between. Lunch isn't technically a class, its basically a study hall where we do all our homework and stuff. It switches every day from A to B day, (b-days we have all our even-periods) and switches off every week. So this week would go ABABA, and next week would go BABAB, so its evened out.

I sighed, I had Integrated Defense first, which is my worst class. It's basically a dueling class where all they do is teach us how to duel using wizarding and muggle techniques. I'm not a big fan of fighting muggle style.

What can I say? I'm a lover, not a fighter…

* * *

A/N: Wow, two new chapters in about 13 days, that's got to be a record. I had this done about a week ago, and the document was up here, but i didnt really want to edit everything, so i let it sit for about a week...sorry! So, it occurred to me that last chapter was pretty short, so I made this one longer. It's eight pages long and just under 4,000 words. I'm hoping to keep my chapters this size. I wasn't originally gonna end it here, but I've been dying to use the whole, I'm a lover, not a fighter phrase for ages. 

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine, but you already knew that didn't you? This goes for all other chapters!

Please review, I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter, so anything would be great!


	8. Fight Club

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters you recognize, just the Salem School and other little things like that.

Chapter 8: Fight Club

_Last Time:_

_Today was an A-Day, meaning I had all my odd-period classes. We have four classes a day, each about an hour and a half long, and a 10 minute break in between. Lunch isn't technically a class, its basically a study hall where we do all our homework and stuff. It switches every day from A to B day, (b-days we have all our even-periods) and switches off every week. So this week would go ABABA, and next week would go BABAB, so its evened out._

_I sighed, I had Integrated Defense first, which is my worst class. It's basically a dueling class where all they do is teach us how to duel using wizarding and muggle techniques. I'm not a big fan of fighting muggle style._

_What can I say? I'm a lover, not a fighter…_

* * *

"I hate that class more than anything." I growled as I held an ice pack to my throbbing cheek. It was Wednesday, and our first week of school was half way done.

"I echo your words in sympathy my friend." Troy said wistfully as he rotated his newly healed wrist, courtesy of me.

"You guys are a bunch of prisses." Nick snickered as we made our way out to the track.

"Oh hush up, teachers pet." Troy sneered. I raised an eyebrow. Troy and Nick had been at it for a little while now, and I had no idea why.

"It's called self-preservation numb-nuts." Nick quipped. I gaped at the both of them.

"Guys, chill, it's just a class." I pressed the ice closer to my swollen cheek.

"Shut up!" They both turned to me and yelled. I raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, why don't you guys come find me when you aren't having a hissy fit?" I sneered as I stalked past them. If they wanted to be immature about Merlin knows what then fine, they could go ahead.

* * *

"First week is over!" Freck and Spitz shouted as they ran out of their anatomy class. I looked over at them with a lazy grin and we linked arms and stalked towards the mess hall.

"Not officially yet boys, sorting is tomorrow, after all." I yawned as we sat down at our regular table.

"Psh, like anything ever happens on the first Friday of school." Freck said. I nodded and pulled out my homework.

"Why are we in here?" Spitz asked after a few moments of silence. We looked around…of course, we were alone.

"I don't know…I followed you guys in here." I said standing up.

"Don't blame us!" Freck said indignantly.

"Yeah…wait, why shouldn't she?" Spitz asked. They argued with each other for a little bit.

"I'm gonna head down to my dorm, I still need to do loads of research on Darker." I sighed and walked out.

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, it is extremely difficult to find information on one of the most deadly "assassins" (as we've taken to calling him) in the world.

I have sat in front of my WizNet for the past 2 and a half hours trying to find out information on Ryan Darker.

All I had found was that he had a stuffed bear named Twinkie as a child.

How is that supposed to help me?

What am I gonna do, hold his Twinkie hostage on our next raid?

I think not.

I am so sick and tired of Ryan Darker.

I got up from my desk and stretched my back out, sighing as it cracked into place. I slipped into a pair of green basketball shorts and left my polo on before walking out of my room. I knocked on Freck and Spitz's door.

"Guys? I'm heading upstairs to hang in the courtyard, maybe skate some, do you wanna come?" I asked as I idly transfigured a piece of hair into a long board.

"Sure thing Shawn." Spitz said as he opened up the door. I saw Freck in the background pulling on his shirt, he had stopped to admire himself for a moment.

"Do you look that good Freck?" I joked.

"Hells yeah!"

"Freck, nobody likes freckles." Spitz sighed as he pulled him out of the door.

"I do!" I smiled.

"Thank you Shawn. See? The ladies like the freckles." He smiled and slung an arm around my shoulder.

"You boys are hopeless." I sighed and leaned into Freck's body.

"Let's go skate." Spitz sighed.

* * *

"There's no way that we're leaving on Friday." I yawned as I sat next to Troy and Nick in the library. It was October 27th and we were leaving for Hogwarts at the end of the week.

"I know, this year is going by so fast." Nick sighed loudly as he laid his head on the table.

"We have ropes course tomorrow." Troy blurted out excitedly.

"Damn." We did ropes course in conditioning, and every year I was on the losing team, who had to spend the rest of the school day doing laps on the track.

It's not my fault my team can't learn.

"I hope I'm with you guys this year."

The boys always ended up on the same team, along with Kevin Sparkins, the best defenseman who isn't in the accelerated program.

I mean, don't get me wrong, the two guys that I always get partnered up with are very capable aurors…they just don't have the will to win.

"I hope you and I are together Shawn." Troy said while glaring at Nick. Something has been up with those two lately. They've been fighting each other non-stop and it has been pissing me off.

"Alright, what is the deal between you guys?" I stood up glaring.

"It's his fault." Nick pointed at Troy.

"Yeah right, you started it!"

"How was I supposed to know that you--"

"Shut up asshole!"

"WOAH! Guys! Chill! Can we please try and talk this out like normal human beings?" I said standing between them as things got heated.

"Whatever, I've gotta go." Nick got up angrily and shoved his things in his bag before stalking out of the library.

"Do you wanna tell me what's up?" I looked sadly at Troy.

"Why don't you just mind your own business for once Shawn?" He rolled his eyes and stalked out as well; leaving me staring at the seat he had just left.

What was going on?

* * *

Later the next day I was sitting in the common room next to Spitz, quietly talking about Nick and Troy.

"Are you sure you don't know why they're fighting?" I asked quietly as I lied down next to him on the couch.

"I honestly don't kid; they're just at each others throats." He sighed and slipped an arm around my waist.

"I could tell you that brain-boy…And don't call me kid, I'm older than you are." I pouted.

"Put that lip back before I curse it off you." He teased. I smiled at him.

"Like you know the curse that could."

"I so do." He smirked.

"Well, first of all, it's a hex, and second of all…There is none, you would probably have to use a cutting curs--damn." I sighed as he caught me in my lie.

"Gotcha." He grinned.

"Would those students who are going to Hogwarts please meet out on the blacktop?" Madame J's voice came out of the loud speaker. I sat up on the couch and pulled Spitz's arm off of me.

"I'll be back later." I said as I slung my backpack over my shoulder. I grinned at him and made my way up to the blacktop. Looking around, I saw that I was in an empty hallway and pulled my skateboard out of my backpack. I dropped it and maneuvered my way through the different halls of the school until I got out.

"Took you long enough Shawny." Nick smirked as he turned to glare at Troy who was across from him. There were about 16 people standing around the blacktop talking. All 12 7th years were there, us three, and one other 6th year badger named Carmen.

"Where's Madame J?" I asked as I skidded to a halt next to him.

"Right here." I turned around and saw Madame J standing there with a strained smile on her face.

"What's up Madame J?" I smirked.

"Do not test me Black." She scowled.

Oooh…Someone's having a bad day.

"Welcome students," she said as we all crowded around her, "you are all here becau--well, you know why you're here. I'm just here to discuss our entrance formation with you all.

"Earlier this year, I had to come up with a routine that would entertain the host school and would show off our skills. I have decided that we will do a mix of our marching band and our frequent flyers.

"From what I understand, each of you is either on quidditch, frequent flyers, or a musical band. Is there anyone here who is not?"

I looked around; no one was raising their hand.

"Good, now there are 16 of you, so I want 8 flyers and 7 drummers, as I've already chosen our drum major."

I looked around at who I thought could be a drum major besides me. No one is really as good of a drummer as I am, so I'm pretty much a shoe-in.

"Derek Simons, I'd like you to be the drum major." I looked over in surprise at Derek.

He was a 7th year Lion defenseman who was in the accelerated program. He's a pretty talented drummer, I'd say, but he never really does anything to stand out. Yes, he does play quads in our drumline, but he's not as intense as I am. He's pretty cute, about as tall as me with black hair and brown eyes. He's got a surfers body and a skaters attitude, which I would normally find incredibly attractive, except, as far as I know, he doesn't really skate.

All in all, he's not that interesting, and not as good as I am.

"Shawn, I would like you to be the captain of the flying squad, which means you will be leading the formations and will also be flying Derek." Madame J directed all attention at me as I nodded my head.

I really wish I was drum major.

Nick turned to look at me with a sad smile. When I didn't play quidditch or hockey, I was in the school drumline, and this year I wanted to be drum major so badly.

Oh well, I guess there's always next year.

Right?

* * *

"Shawn, Mason, Troy, you guys will be going against Nick, Alex, and Kevin." I grinned excitedly at Troy, only to see him scowl in frustration. We were in conditioning and the room was set up in a giant ropes course. I looked over at Mason to see him twirling his wand idly in his hand.

What have I gotten myself into?

"You all know the rules, but I will explain them anyway, just to be fair." Coach Shand boomed as he walked us through the course. "Each of you will be stationed at a different part. One will be at the pit, another at the wire course, and one at the zip-line. You will all have a moment to decide who will be where after I do my explaining. At the beginning of each section, you will be required to answer five questions about a certain subject. At the pit, it will be based around dueling and wand-work; at the wire course it will be about muggle defense and weaponry, and at the zip-line it will be about human anatomy and basic healing. You will be required to answer all questions correctly before you can move on. After you complete your section, you will hand your baton to the next person and then you will be transported to the finish line. Once the rest of your team is at the finish line, you will then be asked the ingredients of either a defensive or offensive potion, and you will have five minutes to work as a team to sort it out. Are there any questions before I walk you through the course?"

No one uttered a word.

"Great, now let us go through the pit." We stood in front of two 20 ft long rectangles of mud. Each was filled with different types of magical creatures that were potentially deadly. Ten feet in was a sturdy rope that hung in the center, which we had to reach using only our wands. "For the first part of the pit, you may not use any type of summoning charm to reach the rope; you must find other means to get across _without_ running around." He glared at Alex who shrunk in fear. "After you get across the pit you will roll the tire that is at the end until you reach the cliff." I looked past the pit to see a large tire and a stretch of about 20 yards before a sudden drop. "You will climb the rope across the 15 ft gorge and grab the baton from the top of the pole holding the rope on the other side. After you retrieve the baton you will hand it off to the next player. Any questions so far?"

Once again, no questions.

"Let us proceed." We latched hands and he teleported (type of apparating that can only be achieved at a certain age) us to the next section. There were two barb wire grids on the ground, probably only a foot above the ground. After about 10 ft of it, there were two lines of eight tires that were lying on the ground in front of each grid. Afterwards there was a 20 ft high rock wall with a baton levitated in the air.

"The next player will army crawl under the barb wire and step through the tires and climb the rock wall. _You may only climb the rock wall after you have successfully harnessed yourself!_" He spat out while glaring at Alex again. "After you have harnessed yourself and climbed the wall, you will retrieve your baton and hand it to your next player who will be at the top of the wall. Any questions?"

No.

"Great, let's finish this up then." He teleported us again and we landed at the foot of the giant rock wall.

"The last person will repel down the rock wall, and answer their questions here." He pointed to a spot on the ground with a chalk board standing next to it. Behind it there was a 15 ft high rope grid and a wooden plank at the top. Coming through the wooden plank were two 175 ft. high wooden poles with ropes lying at the foot of them. Stretching past it, there was about 200 feet of nothing until another wooden plank stood 175 ft. in the air. There was no rope attaching it. I knew that on the other side of the wooden plank was a ladder that they would have to climb down before they could answer the potions question.

"They will then climb up the rope grid and attach their harnesses at the plank. They will then loop their hands through the rope and climb up the poles. You must find a way to remove the rope before you conjure a line to attach both sides. You will then go across the wire you conjure, land on the other side, and find a _safe_ way down to the ground where you will find the rest of your team. Any questions before we start?" He glared at Alex again before smirking.

"No questions?" We all shook our heads.

"Great…Then let the games begin." We split off into our teams with deadly glares.

"Alright, here's the plan…"

* * *

A/N: Alright, here's the next chapter. I'm kind of disappointed because I got no reviews last chapter…Please review, I write this because I enjoy writing and coming up with new ideas, but I don't have to post it, I only post because I know some readers hate unfinished stories, so please review.

Flames are totally acceptable too!

-Shawn


	9. I Guess My Race is Run

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter isnt mine…But Shawn and Salem and everything you don't know about are…Chapter title attributed to The Bobby Fuller Four, which was then covered by the Clash...title is "I fought the Law"**

**Chapter 9: I Guess My Race is Run**

_Last Time:_

_"They will then climb up the rope grid and attach their harnesses at the plank. They will then loop their hands through the rope and climb up the poles. You must find a way to remove the rope before you conjure a line to attach both sides. You will then go across the wire you conjure, land on the other side, and find a safe way down to the ground where you will find the rest of your team. Any questions before we start?" He glared at Alex again before smirking._

_"No questions?" We all shook our heads._

_"Great…Then let the games begin." We split off into our teams with deadly glares._

* * *

"Alright, here's the plan." I said as we huddled into our groups, "Troy, you've got a really strong upper body, which is basically what the first section depends on. And you've got to be one of the best wand-handlers I know, so I think you should take the first section." 

"I agree, and I think Shawn's better suited for the last, because she was the only one who was in healing for two years, and also, she's an awesome conjurer." Troy nodded his head as Mason chimed in.

"Okay, and Mason, you've got the highest grade in weaponry, so it's obvious that you'll take the second." Troy said sternly. We all nodded.

"Okay, now we've got about two more minutes to discuss this, so Troy, let's go for you first. The easiest way to get by the pit is to conjure up a really long hook and pull in the rope." Mason said. He had been the leader in the pit for the past four years, so he knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah, and for getting across the gorge, it's probably better for you to climb across it as you would monkey bars, because then it'll be easier for your feet to touch the ground." I added as he surveyed the course.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Mason, going under the barb wire, all I can say is keep your chin down and eyes up. Use your elbows to dig into the ground and pull your body forwards, not upwards." Troy said looking Mason in the eye.

"And for the rock wall, don't look down, and just keep your eyes on the baton. Also, last year, I found it a lot easier when I conjured up fingerless gloves. They give you a really good grip on the rocks, but still keep your hands from tensing up." I said.

"And Shawn, the most important thing that you have to focus on is using your legs to get you up that pole; it'll be the hardest thing for you." Troy was right; the pole was always my downfall.

"Once you get up there, take a few seconds to calm yourself, and I don't have to tell you how to conjure a line and some carabineers." Mason continued.

"Alright, there's nothing we can really do about the knowledge part of it, so let's do this." We stuck our hands in the middle and did a small cheer on three.

"GO!"

I watched from my perch on the rock wall as Troy began to answer the questions on dueling. After he got all five I saw him conjure a hook. It took him a couple of times to get the rope, but I saw that Alex was still answering his questions, so we were in the lead. He pushed the tire across the distance and I saw him stop at the gorge. See, Troy is afraid of heights, and unfortunately, all three of the challenges involve some sort of height issue, so he was basically screwed from the start. I crossed my fingers as I saw him swing his body across the 15 ft. rope and onto the ground safely.

"Thank Merlin." I sighed. I watched Mason grab the baton and answer his five questions easily. This kid knows his weapons so well, that I'm actually afraid of him sometimes. No lie.

He crawled under the barbed wire with relative ease, though he got stuck long enough for Kevin to catch up with him. I waited as he climbed up the rock wall, and the closer he got to the top, the more nervous I got.

See, every year, I always get stuck with the zip line part of the course, and it scares me to no ends. First off, I have upper body strength, but not to the extent you need to climb 175ft of a wooden pole. Second off, yes I can conjure wires perfectly, but to get it secure from a distance of over 200ft, is a feat all in its own. But, I've done it before, so what's to say that I can't do it again?

"Good luck Shawn!" I heard Mason say as he stuck the baton in my hand. I nodded my head at him and repelled off the side of the wall. I had conjured up fingerless gloves a while ago and used them to slide myself down the wire that I was harnessed to. I looked up to see Nick also making his way down the wall.

I felt my feet hit the ground and I immediately detached the chord and left it on the ground, turning to face my questions.

On the chalkboard was a drawing of the human body and on the right arm was an arrow that I had to fill in.

"What goes here?" The Ulna…duh.

I quickly filled in the answer and saw the bored erase and rewrite itself.

"Three of your squadron mates have appeared at your HQ, injured. One has a broken arm, but is unconscious. One is bleeding from a relatively serious wound on the leg, but has stabilized breathing and is conscious, and one is twitching violently with minor bleeding coming from the temple. Which do you attend to first and why?" I picked up the chalk in thought.

_Well, the first guy is unconscious for whatever reason, so you should try and revive him first. _I thought. _But then again, this last guy is twitching, so you should probably take care of the Cruciatous curse first because that could have the most lasting affects._

And that's what I wrote.

Of course, I'm Shawn Black, so everything I write is right.

Next question: "Under a cruciatous spell, which is the first system to go?"

Easy--Nervous system.

Two more to go.

"How often should a 5-dose blood-replenishing potion be administered?"

Getting tricky…

_Five times, you do five times in 2 days, 5 goes into 48 hours how many times…_I thought_. Five goes into 48 9.3 times. So you would administer it every 9 hours and 15 minutes approximately._

One more question…

"List the five properties of a muscle enhancer potion."

_Muscle enhancers…they use Lacewing._

I wrote it down quickly.

_Wormwood and Belladonna._

Check. Check.

_Acotone and….oh jeez, what is it? It starts with a D…Darphing? No. Damster? No. Dander flies? No…Uhh…Crushed Dragon Scale!_

I wrote down my last two answers. The board erased itself and moved aside.

I was free to go.

I sprinted my way over to the rope grid, latching onto it as I pulled myself up. I turned around as I reached the wooden plank to see Nick half-way through the grid…I had to hurry.

Sprinting across the deck, I looped my arms through the rope lying at the bottom of the pole, attached my harness to the rope hanging down, and hiked the rope around my wrist up to my full height. I slowly began to pull myself upwards.

25 ft…not tired yet.

50 ft...I'm starting to break a sweat.

75 ft…I have to take a rest; I've got a cramp in my arm.

100 ft…Over half-way there; keep it up Shawn.

125 ft…I don't know if I can keep going, my upper body strength sucks.

I supported myself against the pole as I stopped to catch my breath.

"Pick up the pace Shawn! Else I'm gonna win like I always do!" Nick screamed from across the distance as he attempted to catch his way up to me.

"Bull shit Nick! I'll beat you fair and square this year." I growled.

"Let's see you move it then eh?!" He screamed. A fire was lit in me as I tore my way up the pole.

150 ft…there's no way I'm losing to that jerk.

175 ft…In 200 ft I will have officially beaten him. I pulled myself up on the wooden plank and pulled my wand out of my pocket with some difficulty. I severed the ropes, narrowly avoiding my wrist (I'm careless at times…) before stopping to catch my breath. Summoning all my energy and courage I shot out a thick 20" piece of wire from my wand and latched onto the pole as I leaned forward over the plank. I tied a small lasso towards the end of it; wide enough to go over the other pole, and then pulled my hand behind my head. In one fluid whipping motion, I shot the wire from my wand and watched it stretch across the 200 ft. distance easily. The trick to this is to shoot it with enough momentum so that it can get far enough. I pulled tight against the lasso and then tied my end around the pole I was hanging onto before attaching it with a perma-stick charm. I launched one at the other end and conjured some carabineers. I attached them to my harness and to the wire, before looping around a summoned rope to hang onto. I quickly turned to my left to see Nick still fumbling with his wire. He looked up, feeling my eyes on him, I sent him the one-finger salute, and took off.

Now, I'm not afraid of heights, but when you're 175 ft. high in the air, only hanging on by a couple of carabineers, it tends to get to you.

"ARGHHH!!!!!!!!!!" I let out my man-like scream as I tore through the line at Merlin knows what speed. I crashed into the wooden plank with a small thud and groaned in pain.

"I've always needed to work on the landings." I sighed as I stepped onto the plank and quickly cut off all the caribeeners.

As I pulled the ropes around my wrist again to lower myself down to the ground, I saw Nick sliding with ease onto the plank.

"Shit!" I said quietly as I lowered myself to the ground, basically free-falling with a bit of pressure on my wrists.

I touched down to the ground with ease and ran to meet up with my teammates 10 ft. ahead.

"Congrats Shawn, you guys have beaten the challenges, and now you have to answer this question in five minutes. What are the ingredients, in order, of the advanced pepper-up potion?"

"Advanced pepper-up?" Mason said questioningly as we gathered around in a circle.

"It does in fact, exist." I said with a groan. Advanced pepper-up was an extremely complex potion.

"First ingredient is Belladonna, then lacewing." Troy said as he scribbled it down on a piece of paper. By now, Nick's group had finally caught up, and they were also thinking as well.

"Forksfly eyes too." Mason piped in, finally remembering something he's learned in his past six years of schooling.

"Wormwood and aconite." I chimed in. Troy scribbled furiously as Nick's group whispered on.

"Feather of a barn owl--" Mason started.

"No, it's an eagle owl, I remember." Troy corrected. I nodded in agreement.

"Asphodel root?" I questioned.

"Asphodel stem." Troy corrected. Troy is a super-potions wiz, if you hadn't noticed.

"There's like, two more ingredients." I said quietly.

"One of them is lemon zest." Mason grinned.

"That's last." I groaned.

"Okay, we need one more guys, let's think." Troy said, biting his lower lip.

"It starts with an 'S'." I said quietly.

"Sneezewort?" Mason asked.

"No, that's beffudlement drafts." Troy shook his head.

"Scurvy-grass?" I asked hopefully.

"Same effects as sneezewort." He shook his head once again.

"Beetles?" Mason asked looking down curiously.

"No, it starts with an S." I shook my head.

"No, there's a beetle." He said distractedly.

"THAT'S IT!" Troy shouted, before quieting down quickly as everyone turned to look at him.

"Scarab beetles!" He whispered excitedly. He scribbled it down and sprinted to give it to coach.

"Nick! Your time is almost up!" Coach Shand boomed out loudly.

"We're done coach!" He said back with a grin and a smirk to me. I glared back fiercely.

"Shawn's group, you guys got everything done and in the right order, so if they get it right, we go into sudden death." Coach said. I hated this rule, even though we finished first, if the other team got the potion right, we still had to go to sudden death.

"Nick, you guys look fine…" Nick whooped with joy.

"Except…the second to last ingredient is just scarab beetles…not _crushed_ scarab beetles." He said mournfully. I'm not gonna lie, I think Coach Shand hates me, and likes to see me in pain.

"YES!" Troy shouted out. Wait a second…WE WON!!!!

"BOOH-YAH!" Mason screamed as he and Troy shared a high-five. I jumped up and down as Troy pulled me into a hug.

"Nick, Alex, Kevin…out to the track, the rest of you guys have the day off, congratulations." Coach Shand said begrudgingly. I turned away from Troy to see Nick standing there with the fiercest glare I had ever seen. It was obvious he wouldn't forgive or forget this for a while. I shook it off, who cared? WE WON!

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, but it's out, and it's relatively short…so my bad guys. The next chapter brings the crew to Hogwarts!!!!! I'm so excited! After they get to Hogwarts, the chapters should start rolling out, because I have so many ideas for it.**

**Thanks for the reviews (even if there were only 2) I appreciate it, and I would love it if you would review again!**

**-Shawn**


	10. Make Like Geese

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isnt mine…But Shawn and Salem and everything you don't know about are…

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter isnt mine…But Shawn and Salem and everything you don't know about are…**

**Chapter 10: Make Like Geese**

_Last Time:_

_"BOOH-YAH!" Mason screamed as he and Troy shared a high-five. I jumped up and down as Troy pulled me into a hug._

_"Nick, Alex, Kevin…out to the track, the rest of you guys have the day off, congratulations." Coach Shand said begrudgingly. I shook it off, who cared? WE WON!_

_--_Now_--_

"Wanna play some Egyptian Rat Screw?" Troy asked as he shuffled a deck of cards. Apparently we're talking again; however, because of that, Nick's stopped talking to me.

Boys are stupid.

"Sure." I said as he dealt me in. We were currently sitting on the plane that would take us to Hogwarts. We had taken off about two hours ago, but with added Wizarding technology, we were set to arrive in about two hours

"Students, gather around, we have to go over our formation." Madame Johanson said as she walked into the student section of the plane. Three teachers have come along with Madame J so that two could teach the healers and two could teach the defensemen. Unfortunately, they have enlisted help from the accelerated as well.

"Okay, this is how we will start out." She pulled out a white board with 8 'X's drawn on it, in a 'V' formation.

"We will begin in a flying V. Shawn, you and Derek will be at the head, followed by Nick and Tory and Troy and Carmen. The rest of you will follow in the order up here. Now, you will fly in this V formation for 150 yards before Shawn will lead you into a sharp downwards turn, at about 45 degrees. You will continue in this V, until the ends fly forward, and you fall into a line. Kevin, you will be at the right end of the line, and the rest of you will turn around Kevin so that you will form a vertical line. Shawn, you will break ranks and fly towards the front once again. Fly in three spirals, and then you should be at estimated touch down point. You will be playing our school song, which I know you all know so well. Any questions?" She asked pleasantly as she stepped away from the board. It was now littered with X's and black lines.

No one made a move.

"Okay, you can all come up here and see who you are flying with. I will alert you when there is 30 minutes until drop-off." She said before walking off to another part of the plane. Troy smiled at me, and I looked over to Nick. He was glaring hard at Troy.

"What is going on with you two?" I asked quietly as Derek and Carmen joined in on our game.

"Nothing." He said shortly.

"Tell me later." I persuaded.

"Fine, just don't say anything to him." He pleaded.

"Like he would talk to me anyway." I retorted. He looked thoughtful, but nodded. The four of us played cards for about an hour before Madame J came by again.

"Guys, you should start getting ready, the band uniforms are in the front, and the flyers uniforms are in the back." She walked out again. Troy and I got up and said good-bye to Carmen and Derek before walking to the back of the plane.

Behind the separator was basically a locker room. There were 8 little cubicle things that contained our jerseys, pants, shoes, hair-ties, gloves, and basically everything else you could think of. Obviously, this was a very serious part of the entire tournament.

Lame.

I walked over to the cubicle that had 'BLACK' strewn across the top. It was right in between Troy's and Nick's….Great.

I pulled out the jersey; it looked like a basic soccer/quidditch jersey. The basic body was black, to represent the badgers. There was a thick line of silver that went from the collar down to both sleeves, which represented the snakes. 'Salem' was written in bold bronze across the front to represent the eagles. And the stitching of the whole shirt was in gold, for the lions. Our school crest was put on the back, and it was huge. Across the shoulders of mine was 'S. Black,' and on the left breast was a silver 'C' to represent Captain. I smiled, it was beautiful.

The pants were white jeans, which were kinda weird, but I guess its okay. We had black flying boots (they look like combat boots, only hotter) and our flying gloves were white fingerless ones. Our goggles were black, like most goggles, and all the girls had white hair-ties that had white ribbon coming off the sides, saying their name and team in their colors. Overall, we looked pretty hot.

Everyone managed to get dressed fairly quickly, and just as I was buckling my boots, I heard a shriek come from Kevin.

"Um…are you okay Kevin?" I asked skeptically as I pulled out my wand.

"Oh My MERLIN! We've got STRIKERS!" He sounded extremely girlish as he said this, but I swear to you, he's straight.

I think.

"No way!" Travis, a seventh year Eagle, shouted joyously as he dug into his locker. He pulled out a sleek black broom. This was the Lightning Striker Heavy-Duty Full Throttle Dark Trotter XLS. Also known as the Striker. It was the successor to my current broom, the Canadian Lightning Striker, and has only been released in British Columbia.

"How the hell…?" I wondered out loud. I was answered by shrugs and a chorus of similar notions.

The broom was completely black, made of ebony, and the twigs were cut and polished into a sleek curve. The tip of the tail was white, as was the tip of the handle. It was standard broom length, about five feet, and was the second lightest broom on the market. As well as the second fastest. This broom was built for beaters and chasers. Its brother broom, the Lightning Striker Light Weight is built for seekers, and was the lightest on the market. They had a whole line for keepers as well, the Lightning Striker Blocker XLS, which was longer and had a sturdier tail.

Overall, the Lightning Striker is amazing and no one should ever be able to tell you otherwise.

"So basically, the board spent all this money on us, when really this money could have gone to fund our schools gobstone club? Dang…the boys aren't going to be pleased." I said softly. This earned a few chuckles from the rest of the group as we all grabbed our brooms and walked out of the room, me in front. When we got out there, we were greeted by the band.

They were dressed in basic marching band uniforms (minus the feathered hats) and their color scheme was like ours. Their whole uniform basically matched ours except they had fingered gloves, and had black drumsticks. They were laden with their symbols, quads, and snares. And we all sat down with our partners, waiting for our cue to head out.

I sat next to Derek, and noticed that he, like me, had a glimmering letter on his chest, only his was gold, and was an 'M', to symbolize Major.

"You ready for this?" He asked me quietly.

"I don't know, music is something you always remember, so you guys have it easy. But the flyers haven't practiced this. Yeah, we're all capable, but we've only ever seen it on paper." I confessed my fears to him. He nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I can't believe I'm major though, that's going to be tough, directing a band and holding on to a broom at the same time." He looked uneasily at me.

"I think that's why she chose me as captain. Even though I do crazy things on a broom, my ride is smooth, so don't even worry about a thing. You guys have put sticking charms on your equipment right?" He nodded. "Then you'll be fine, just leave it all up to me." I smiled comfortingly.

"You'll do fine too, I mean, all you guys have to do is make like geese and fly in a V!" He laughed playfully. I quirked an eyebrow at him and let out a chuckle.

Madame J told us all to gather around the exit door. I grabbed my broom and pulled Derek up with me as we all stood around her.

"Okay, flyers, you all know the routine?" There was a series of nods. "Then I want you all to follow any movement that Shawn makes alright? Everything she does, you repeat, do you all understand?" Once again, there was a series of nods.

"Good luck, I will see you all down there." She nodded to me and Derek. One by one we all mounted our brooms. All of the band kids were facing forward, except for Derek who was turned around to direct the band. I slid my goggles into place and flexed my fingers before re-strapping my gloves.

Madame J nodded once more as she opened the door. I saluted her mockingly, before nodding to Derek and kicking off.

The first thing I realized was that it was freezing, and I should have put a warming charm on myself. But I shook it off; we had a job to do. I set out in the original formation. I could hear the band playing behind me, but I didn't chance a look back. We traveled in the V for about 200 yards, before I turned the broom down. I heard a sharp gasp come from Derek, but I ignored him as I flattened myself against my broom. This was my element.

When I could see the grounds surrounding Hogwarts and the students began to look like ants, I waved an arm in the air, signaling for the ends to come forward. Troy and Nick's brooms were by my side instantly as the rest of the team began to fall in. We turned gracefully into a straight line, before I managed to dislodge myself and fly out to the front of the line. I could feel Derek go off balance behind me.

"Hold on!" I shouted. I wasn't sure if he heard me, but I gripped the broom tightly and led the team in a spiral. That's where things went wrong.

Somewhere in the moment where my body was turned upside down, Derek fell back against me and knocked me from my seat. I fell forward over the handle and gripped my broom tightly, hanging by it. I turned slightly to see the rest of the flyers doing this as well, giving me murderous looks. I shook my head and swung myself back over. There was slight difficulty, and I could see Derek looking angry, but I brushed it off and led my team in two more spirals.

"Touch down!" I warned Derek as we skimmed past the Hogwarts wards. I felt the coolness wash over me before I touched down in a small clearing, about 100 feet away from the students. As soon as my boots hit the ground I could hear seven other dull thuds behind me, I looked to see the rosy cheeks and winded smiles before releasing a small smile. Derek clapped my shoulder.

We had done it.

The team began to trek over to the students; each of us had a secretive smile on our faces. I pulled my goggles from my eyes as Troy came up next to me, slipping an arm around my waist.

"Great job, but what the hell was that?!" He asked angrily. I could totally see him smiling though.

"I fell." I said bluntly. He chuckled at me and nodded, before we arrived before Madame J.

"All present and accounted for Madame." I said formally as I stood at about-face. This is how we were taught to act in front of others, as ambassadors to the school.

"Thank you Miss Black, you may lead the team into the Great Hall, just follow the Hogwarts students." She said with a nod. I nodded in affirmation before I motioned for the group standing behind me to follow.

"That was incredible."

"I don't think I've ever seen flying like that."

"Honestly, how many quidditch stars are going to be here this year?" The whispers flowing through the students of Hogwarts were honestly quite laughable. I could see Troy laughing quietly as he sent a cheeky--no--mocking grin at me. I laughed along with him as we arrived in the Great Hall. No one really knew where to sit, so we just sat at the first one we arrived to. I looked up at the banner above us.

Gryffindor.

Great, I'm sitting in enemy territory.

"That was brilliant!"

"Fantastic broommanship--"

"--We do believe."

"I'm Fred--"

"--And I'm George--"

"Weasley." I looked questioningly between the two red heads that had squashed me in between them. Troy sat across from me looking stunned.

"I'm Shawn, Shawn Black." I said quietly.

"Pleasure to meet you--"

"--Miss Black." Fred--no--George started. I am certain, however, that the other one finished the sentence.

"Now tell me, Shawn, do you play quidditch?" One of them asked.

"Of course she does Fred, honestly, you've never heard of this girl? She's the beater for the Canadian Flyers!" George said incredulously. I was stunned that people knew me by name.

"Oh…so, do you play quidditch?" Fred continued. I giggled slightly and as I was about to answer, Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome students! Today, we will have a feast in honor of the Quad-Wizard tournament! Tonight, the judge will be unveiled, and tomorrow, Halloween, it will choose a champion from each house. This champion is bound to compete in each of the three tasks, before a winner can take home the trophy, 1000 galleons, and the glory for their school!" There was a cry of cheers.

"Now, as you all know, students must be 17 years of age to enter the tournament. Be aware that this tournament is not for the fair-hearted. Once you enter your name, if you are chosen, you are magically bound to compete." He took on a somber expression, but no one seemed to notice as the students let out more cheers.

"Before we can begin the feast, we would like to ask that the Salem students take seats at their traditional team tables in order to save space." He asked not unkindly. I sighed and said good-bye to those that I sat near. Troy sent me a sad look that I returned as he walked away towards the Ravenclaw table. I walked to the other end of the hall to find the Slytherins.

Lo and behold, there was Viktor Krum. And my ever favorite cuzzy.

Draco Malfoy.

FIN

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out. This was an incredibly boring chapter for me to write, but after this things begin to really get interesting. Thanks to those few who reviewed last time, I really do appreciate it. Please let me know if you have anything that I could fix with this story, I love criticism!**

**WE'RE IN DOUBLE DIGITS PEOPLE!!**

**Rockin.**

**-Shawn**


	11. Fighting Fire

"Welcome students

**Chapter 11:** **Fighting Fire**

_"Before we can begin the feast, we would like to ask that the Salem students take seats at their traditional team tables in order to save space." He asked not unkindly. I sighed and said good-bye to those that I sat near. Troy sent me a sad look that I returned as he walked away towards the Ravenclaw table. I walked to the other end of the hall to find the Slytherins. _

_Lo and behold, there was Viktor Krum. And my ever favorite cuzzy._

_Draco Malfoy._

* * *

"Shawn, wake up, you have to enter your name into the goblet." A voice said over me as they shook me awake. I cracked open an eye to see that Carmen, the other 6th year in my room, was standing over me.

"What?" I asked confusedly as I sat up.

"You're seventeen today! You need to enter the Tri-Wizard tournament!" Carmen said excitedly. I looked around and rubbed my eyes tiredly, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Oh…your right." It's really sad when you forget your own birthday.

"Well come on! Let's go to the Great Hall!" Carmen began to throw my uniform at me as she pushed me into the adjacent bathroom. We were staying in our plane, which had been expanded to hold us in rooms of four.

I came out 20 minutes later dressed in my black polo and skirt. She smiled at me and linked arms as we exited the room with a smile. It was weird being friends with a girl. I was the only girl in the Defensive curriculum, so I never really interacted with that many girls.

"Come _on_, Shawn!" She pleaded as she dragged me along. I barely had the chance to grab my white sweatshirt and backpack before she pulled me out the door. And so we were off.

"I wonder who the goblet is going to pick from our school." She said excitedly.

"Yeah, I don't really care that much. It's just a stupid competition." I yawned with boredom. Okay, so I was actually really excited, but I don't like to get my hopes up.

"You're just saying that so _you_ don't look like an idiot when you don't get chosen." A voice chuckled behind me. I turned to see Troy standing there. I grinned at the smirk on his lips and slipped an arm around his shoulders, steering him towards the Great Hall.

"At least I can enter the tournament." I matched his smirk easily. His eyes filled with momentary rage as he stomped his foot onto the ground.

"I can't believe I'm missing the cut-off by ONE DAY!" He complained loudly. Troy's birthday was on November 1st, tomorrow, so he wouldn't be 17 at the time of the judging. It sucks for him, but Nick and--well, _I _thought it was hilarious.

"Where's Nick?" Carmen asked eagerly. I raised an eyebrow, as did Troy. Was that jealousy in his eyes?

"How should I know?" He asked callously.

"You _are _rooming with him…" I gave him an odd look.

"Whatever, just enter your name Shawn." He glared moodily at the Gryffindor table where Nick was talking to the Weasley twins that I had met last night.

"Touchy, touchy." I stuck my tongue out at him and he poked my side, which caused me to emit a loud squeal and a twitch. He laughed at me. Jerk.

I grabbed a piece of…"parchment" (I hear they call it), and grabbed a pen out of my bag. I scrawled my name out in my painfully un-girly chicken scratch, before throwing it into the goblet.

I looked over to see Carmen tossing her name in as well before she smiled at me. I smiled back before we each grabbed one of Troy's arms and dragged him to the Gryffindor table.

"Shouldn't we be sitting at our respective tables?" He sighed.

"That's no fun." I grinned as I sat him down next to the Weasley twins. Nick looked up at us with a blank look, and didn't respond when I sent a kind smile his way.

I began to spoon some eggs onto my plate while listening to Carmen chatter away about her new eye shadow. Both Troy and Nick seemed engrossed with her, and I looked suspiciously between the two.

I was about to respond to Carmen's question ("Do you think the yellow eye shadow goes well with my eyes?") before she gasped slightly.

"What?" She continued to stare at my face.

"Hello…?" Still nothing. By now both Nick and Troy were looking at me funny as well.

"Guys, what's going on?" This wasn't funny, what was wrong with my face?!

"Shawn, do you feel warm or anything?" Carmen asked with concern. It seemed as though the healer in her was coming out, because she reached out to touch my forehead. I batted her away as I shook my head no.

"Not really, why?"

"Because your face is bright red. Are you nervous about something? Embarrassed maybe?"

"Not that I'm aware of…" This is really odd. Carmen reached out to touch my forehead again, this time I allowed her to. She pulled back with a gasp. Troy, Nick and I gaped at her hand, which was quickly turning an angry shade of red.

As I saw her hand begin to turn red, I noticed that my body was feeling rather warm. I managed to loosen my tie a little uncomfortably, while Troy and Nick tended to Carmen. Neither of them seemed to notice that they were working together while being civilized.

I looked down to see my arms turning bright red as well. It seemed as though my skin was burning, but I wasn't feeling any excruciating pain.

I tried to ignore the looks that my three friends were now sending me as I reached out to grab a bagel. Pulling out my wand I prepared to apply a light flame charm when I noticed something odd. There were five burn marks--in the shape of fingers--right where I had just clasped the bagel. I looked down at my hands in confusion, idly hearing the three gasp in alarm. Squinting in concentration a light flame began to appear on my fingertips. Quickly clenching my fist, I looked around in hopes that nobody had noticed. The only three that had were Nick, Troy, and Carmen, all staring at me with identical looks of alarm on their faces. If this had been any other time, I would have laughed.

Actually, I was just about to laugh, when the pain hit me.

Hard.

"Oh fudge." I murmured as my eyes rolled back into my skull. Then, all I saw was blackness.

FIN

**A/N: So I'm going to try this thing where I update somewhere around 1000 words everyday. I'm sick of how the plot isn't going anywhere, and hopefully this can give it a nice kick-start. There's a poll on my profile page, so you can vote if you'd rather have this or the old way of updating. Please review! Also, I'm sorry if I don't reply, as I'm not sure what's going on with the site, and if anything is going to work.**

**-Shawn**


	12. Training

Chapter 12: Training

**Chapter 12: Training**

_Actually, I was just about to laugh, when the pain hit me._

_Hard._

_"Oh fudge." I murmured as my eyes rolled back into my skull. Then, all I saw was blackness._

* * *

The next thing that I knew I was staring up at the ceiling in my dorm, and my body hurt like hell. Little flashes of my unconsciousness came to me. I could only recall extreme pain and heat, but that was it.

I sat up slowly, trying not to jar my sore body too much. I looked around and saw Carmen in the corner, engrossed in a novel. I cleared my throat, but it felt dry and scratchy. I looked around frantically for water.

Carmen must have heard me because she was up and at my side in a flash.

"What do you need, Shawn?" She asked with concern. I pointed to my throat and signaled that I needed a drink. She nodded in understanding and instantly conjured a glass, filling it with the 'Augmenti' charm.

"Anything else?" She asked as I took in the water with large gulps. I shook my head, causing water droplets to fall on me and my bed.

"No, but what's happened to me?" I noticed that my hand was a fading red.

"I think Madame J can best explain that. I'm going to go get her and Nick and Troy. They've been going crazy over you!" She huffed in exasperation before she walked out the room.

"That's nice…" I said softly to the empty room. I swung my legs out of the bed and stood up, though a bit wavering. I searched for my wand frantically, before realizing that it was still in my waist holster. Whipping it out I held it up to the air.

"_Tempus_." The time '_2:37 P.M.'_ began to write itself in big red letters into the air. So I had been out for over 6and a half hours. Weird.

"SHAWN!" Identical screams met my ears as I was tackled down by two very heavy bodies. My own hit the ground with a thud as I heard Madame J angrily telling the boys to get off of me. It seemed as though Troy and Nick had resolved their differences to care for me. Awww, how sweet.

"Ow." I groaned, though it was extremely muffled by the two of them. They quickly got up, however, and pulled me to my feet.

"Thanks" I rolled my eyes sarcastically before the two of them wrapped me in a group hug.

"We thought you were dying--"

"--But Madame J knew--"

"--Exactly what was wrong with you--"

"--And you're going to be just fine!"

"Though we are terribly--"

"--horribly, really,--"

"--right, we're horribly sorry--"

"--that we've been acting like total jerks this year." The two of them easily reminded me of the Weasley twins with their tennis match conversations. I beamed at the two of them though, and pulled them closer into our group hug.

"Oh, its okay boys." With that I pulled myself away, and immediately cuffed the both of them on the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" They chorused together, and I couldn't help but beam again at their adorableness.

"_That_, was to make sure that the two of you never do anything like that to me again! Do you know what it was like, not knowing what was wrong with either of you?!" I groaned loudly.

"We're sorry." They looked down shamefully and I smiled sympathetically.

"You're forgiven." I conceded and they sent near-identical grins my way.

"Now Shawn. About your little bout of unconsciousness. Do you know what that was caused by?" Madame J asked curiously. I shook my head. How would I know what caused it if I was unconscious the whole time?

"Well, what do you know about pyrokinetics?" She asked.

"Well, pyro means fire and kinetic means in motion or to be moving, so I guess it's like the ability to move fire?" I had no idea where she was going with any of this.

"Very good. And now, what can you tell me about every 50th women to be born in a pure-blood line?" She looked a little more intense as she said this.

"Uhh, they usually inherit some unknown power or whatever." I said uncaringly. I'm pretty sure the 50th female Black was my Aunt Narcissa.

"Are you aware that you are the 50th female Black?" Obviously it wasn't Narcissa then.

"Uhh….no." I stared at her blankly.

"I believe that because you are the 50th female to be born of Black blood, you have inherited the ability to control fire." She said bluntly.

"Well we can't tell anybody. Whether or not this is true, it would be dangerous if anybody knew." I looked around to Carmen, Nick and Troy.

"We know, that's why Madame J made us take an oath not to tell." Nick said quietly.

"Oh. Thanks guys, it really means a lot." I said genuinely. It's true, it did mean a lot that they cared enough to take an oath for my secret.

"So now we have to help you learn how to control it." Madame J said firmly.

"Great, when?" I was excited to get this started. There's nothing more fun than testing out a new power.

"How about now? Classes are still in session for another hour at least." She answered with a secretive smirk.

"Sweet!" I grinned as she began to apply a flame-prevention ward around the room. Following her movements, I began to as well. After about 30 seconds of applying the wards, everything in the room was fire-proof, and we were allowed to begin my training.

"Do you want them here while you learn? It won't be easy." She motioned to my three friends as she tried to look stern. I nodded my head. I didn't care if they were here to see. It was cool, and I didn't mind showing it off.

"Alright. First I want you to try and light this candle, using only your finger." She conjured a candle and held it out for me.

I pointed my finger sternly at the wick of the candle. I squinted hard in concentration and tried to push my power into the candle. Sagging after about 20 seconds of nothingness, I let out the breath I had been holding.

"Don't try and force the flame out. Don't shoot the flame out of your finger either. Try and picture it as a lighter of sorts. Allow the flame to be on your finger, and then hold it to the candle." She said wisely.

I took her advice and closed my eyes. I must have stayed like that for at least 10 minutes, because I could hear impatient sighs coming from Nick and Troy. Finally, I opened my eyes when I heard a gasp from Carmen. I looked down at my finger.

There on my index finger, was a tiny orange flame. It tickled my skin and I couldn't help but beam as I held it to the candle.

"Wicked." I whispered. It was silent for a moment.

"Did you just say wicked??" Nick asked incredulously with a snort.

* * *

FIN!

**A/N: Sorry this came out so late. I was kind of busy all day. Hope you like the chapter! Next is the drawing of the champions! Please review!**

**-Shawn**


	13. And then there were Five?

Chapter 13: And then there were…Five

**Chapter 13: And then there were…Five?**

_There on my index finger, was a tiny orange flame. It tickled my skin and I couldn't help but beam as I held it to the candle._

_"Wicked." I whispered. It was silent for a moment._

_"Did you just say wicked??" Nick asked incredulously with a snort._

* * *

Troy, Carmen, and I quietly snuck to the Gryffindor table half way through the feast that night. We were once again asked to sit at our respective tables, and after about fifteen minutes, we were all bored out of our minds. We had been sending each other secretive looks, and finally decided to meet up and converse with each other.

"Didn't Dumbledore tell you guys to sit at your own tables?" Nick asked with mock annoyance as Troy and I squashed him in between us. Carmen sat across from us, next to one of the Weasley twins, and another boy with dreads who I had not met.

"No, he asked us very politely to move." Troy stated, hiding a smirk.

"And our response was for him to--"

"--Very kindly, fuck off." Carmen and I finished with a smug face. The Weasley twins turned to us with identical grins, as one of them sent me a casual wink. I returned the action before a blush could fall on my cheeks.

"You shouldn't say things like that about the Headmaster. He is a very brilliant man, and he's just trying to promote international cooperation." A bushy-haired girl said in a huff. Troy, Nick, and I raised an eyebrow simultaneously as we sent this girl an odd look.

"I'll say what I please, thank you very much." I responded curtly, as I lowered my brow with a glare. I don't take kindly to being bossed around, if you couldn't tell.

"I was just saying--" She began, before a red-headed boy cut her off.

"Ease up, Hermione, they're just having a laugh." Fred and George nodded towards the boy, and I thought for a moment that he might be another Weasley. I quickly shot down that thought, however. How many Weasleys could there be?

"Yeah Hermione, ease up. We were just fooling around." Troy mocked with a grin. I elbowed him in the stomach, trying to tell him that he was being rude.

Hermione glared so hard at him, that I swear I saw electricity crackle through her hair, and turned back around to the red-headed boy. I shrugged my shoulders and turned back into conversation with my boys.

We talked all through dinner (mashed potatoes and good old-fashioned corn-on-the-cob), and dessert (some chocolate and vanilla pudding), before our plates disappeared and Dumbledore rose from his position at the staff table.

"Now that we are all fed and watered, it is time for the unveiling of the champions." He looked around the room ominously.

"I do believe the judge is about to release the first champion. I do ask when the champions are chosen, that they make their way to the adjoining room." He cleared his throat as the Goblet turned a fiery red and shot out a piece of parchment. The Headmaster caught it easily and cleared his throat once more.

"The Champion from Durmstrang is…Viktor Krum." Load cheering (and manly…barking?) came from the Slytherin table as Krum stood up and gave a dull wave. I whistled for him as I clapped loudly, my friends clapping politely along side. "No surprise there." I muttered to Nick and Troy as the red-head next to Hermione said a very similar statement.

The Goblet shot out another name, and the Hall quickly descended into silence.

"The Champion of Beauxbatons is…Fleur Delacour!" Squeals came from the Ravenclaw table, and soon the Hall was filled with noise as all the other boys gave the girl a standing ovation. I laughed as their girlfriends shot them dirty looks, which they whole-heartedly ignored. Carmen and I sent each other identical looks of disgust as I yanked down Troy and Nick, cuffing them each on the back of the head.

"Ow…" They pouted and I couldn't help but smile at their adorableness.

"And the Champion from Salem is…Shawn Black!" Cheers erupted from all around as I joined in for a moment, before something hit me.

"Bloody hell, that's _me_ isn't it?" I asked frantically as Troy and Nick yanked me up. I stumbled out of my place and walked into the room where the champions had been directed. I stared blankly at the wall, trying to figure out why I had been chosen.

Viktor and Fleur looked up at me as I entered the room. Fleur sent me an appraising look, but smiled at me anyway. I was pleased that there would be another girl in the tournament. Viktor sent me a soft smile, though quickly became his dull self once more. I had to hold back a chuckle at this. I stopped for a moment, and stared back at the wall again. Why had I been chosen?

I guess it makes sense; I _am_ an accelerated Defenseman who knows Healing. I'm powerful, cunning, and resourceful. But still, there were other people who were just as smart, if not smarter than I was.

Whatever, I'm not complaining.

A moment later, the door opened and a tall handsome boy walked in. Fleur and Viktor looked up for only a moment, before turning back to their original positions. He was wearing Hufflepuff robes, and had a huge smile on his face. Obviously, he was very pleased with himself. I turned back around leant against the wall casually. Viktor had taken up a position very similar to mine on the other side of the fireplace, while Fleur and Cedric had moved directly in front of it. Together we were grouped around it, making up the four champions.

Until the sound of the door opening caused us to throw our heads up simultaneously.

There, silhouetted by the light of the Great Hall, stood a young boy with messy black hair, and circular glasses. There was Harry Potter.

"Are zey ready for uz in zee hall?" Fleur asked with her heavy French accent as she turned around. Cedric had a confused look on his face, while Viktor still leant against the wall apathetically. I had not moved from my lax position against the wall, though I'm sure my face was calculating. My mind was moving a mile a minute. None of this made sense.

There's no way he could have put his name in the Goblet of Fire.

So that must mean…

_Someone's after him._

Shizz.

* * *

**A/N:** **Sorry that took so long, but I'm not getting any feedback and that's kind of disheartening. I saw The Remus Lupins, Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willows, and Justin Finch-Fletchley last night. It was AMAZING! Go see them! Now!!  
**

**-Shawn.**

**Disclaimer:** **Don't own Harry Potter, only Shawn and Salem are mine!**


	14. Boys

Chapter 14: Boys

**Chapter 14: Boys**

**Disclaimer:** **Don't own Harry Potter, only Shawn and Salem are mine!**

_"Are zey ready for uz in zee hall?" Fleur asked with her heavy French accent as she turned around. Cedric had a confused look on his face, while Viktor still leant against the wall apathetically. I had not moved from my lax position against the wall, though I'm sure my face was calculating. My mind was moving a mile a minute. None of this made sense._

_There's no way he could have put his name in the Goblet of Fire._

_So that must mean…_

_Someone's after him._

_Shizz._

"So you think someone entered Potter's name into the Goblet?" Tory asked me quietly. All of the Salem students were crowded in our little "commons area" in the plane after the choosing of the champions. It wasn't really a party as much as it was a hang out sort of thing.

"It had to have been. Harry said he didn't do it, and it didn't really look like he was lying." I said slightly uncertain.

"And there was no way he could have gotten past that age line, it was too strong." Troy said knowingly.

"Who would have done it though?" Danny, a 7th year Eagle defenseman, asked.

"That's what I'm not too sure about, which is where all of you guys come in." I said conspiringly.

"What is it?" Nick asked, as everyone leaned in closer.

"Well, how many of the accelerated students in this room are on stand-by for their missions?" Of the six accelerated students, 3 raised their hands. Alex, a 7th year boy from Eagles team, Derek, and Nick.

"Okay, those of you on stand-by, and the rest of you who aren't accelerated, we need to follow any suspicious characters that are around here. I want someone tailing Karkaroff, Alex and Derek, can you guys do that?" They nodded in affirmation. I conjured a piece of paper and a pen and began to scrawl things down.

"Nick and Tory, I want you guys following Severus Snape. He's the potions teacher here at Hogwarts. He had a bad relationship with James Potter back when they were in school. And he was rumored to have been a Death Eater (turned spy) back in the first English war. He might have it in for Potter." Nick nodded and Tory looked bored, but nodded anyway.

"Alright, Ryann, I want you tailing Mad-Eye Moody. He's the only new teacher here, and we can't just ignore him because he is a retired Auror." There was immediate protesting from all people in the room. Most of us had met Moody on at least one occasion, and although he was a good enough guy, there's no doubt about what he would say in this situation.

"Constant vigilance everyone! We need to stay alert!" I shouted above the noise. Everyone turned to look at me and seemed to nod in agreement.

"Alright, everyone else who isn't assigned someone to look after, so me, Troy, Danny, and Mitch, we're going to be teaching the healers some basic defensive maneuvers. We need you guys on high alert in case anything happens. This is serious." I gave everyone in the room a stern look. This wasn't something to joke about.

"Do you really think it's necessary to take all these extra precautions?" Nick asked. He, Troy and I were walking around the Hogwarts grounds, trying to make a mess of all the things that had happened in the last two days.

"Something extremely fishy is going on around here. I don't know. When the teachers and heads were all discussing Harry's predicament, Moody didn't seem very…Mad-Eye like. He wasn't all…'Constant vigilance!!' he was more like…'it's Potter's decision' and blah…blah…blah…" I shrugged. We were definitely in a tight spot right here. It was pretty obvious that Salem was only competing because the competition needed more protection this year. It's the first time it's been around for ages, and I guess they needed the Auror protection. That put an immense load on the aurors, me included, especially since I was competing.

"Let's not worry about this, let's go into the school for dinner, please?" Troy asked politely with a small grin. Nick and I returned it and we all linked arms before making our way back into the castle.

As we sat down at the Gryffindor table (where everyone had ignored that fact that we bent rules…bad), Nick pulled me into a conversation about my assignment.

"How's Darker doing?" He whispered seriously. Troy leaned in as well. Although the assignments were top secret, that didn't stop us from sharing everything we knew.

"Fine and dandy," I started sarcastically. "I actually don't know. Two weeks ago I briefed the Heads of the Auror Departments for both Canada and America. From what we understand, he's sporadic with his murders. He isn't targeting any particular race, religion, or blood-purity. He's not letting borders separate him either. He's already infiltrated the American government, and he's moving in on Canada, _and _Mexico. Rumor has it that the Treasury and the judicial system have already been infiltrated. There are spies everywhere. Security in the Auror departments is tightening up. They're screening everyone with veritaserum and other spells every 5-8 weeks. His numbers are growing by the day. He's managed to send envoys to the werewolves and the vamps. From what we know 15 of both the werewolf and the vampire populations have joined up with him. Giants, goblins, and most other magical creatures are trying to avoid the conflict. From what our spies tell us, he's planning a hostile take over of the Wizarding quarter in California sometime in the next year." I whispered quickly. By the end of my little rant, both Troy and Nick were staring at me with wide eyes. We leaned in closer, trying to avoid the prying eyes of Hogwarts students.

"My parents live in California!" Nick said frantically.

"So move them." I said bluntly. No one was supposed to know about anything that was going on.

"Why isn't the government doing anything?!" Troy whispered angrily.

"Because, where are we going to move them? If we move them, Darker will know that we have spies, and he'll come after the people that we moved. It's better to take the chance, and _pray_ that we will be there to stop it with minimal casualties. We've already beefed up securities in all the major Wizarding areas in America. We're not moving in on Canada or Mexico yet, because their governments don't see him as major threat." I growled angrily.

"_Not a major threat?!_ He's killed hundreds already!" Nick spat.

"Don't look at me!" I glared.

"So what about my parents?" Nick asked quietly.

"Just have them ready on stand-by, prepared to apparate or portkey out as quick as possible. No one is supposed to know about this, and it would look kind of suspicious if they just up and moved." I whispered quietly as we calmed down slightly.

"Shawn, I can't take that chance." He said seriously. His face had become very pale, and his eyes had lost their usual sparkle,

"Nick, you're an auror, you know what risks are involved." I said solemnly. No one likes having to hear that, but it was the truth.

"Yeah right," he started angrily, beginning to stand. "You only feel that way because your family is dead. You have nothing to lose."

Troy and I (as well as others that were in ear-shot) stared at him in shock. It was sort of an unspoken rule that we didn't talk about dead family members.

"Oh shit. Shawn I didn't mean that." Nick said sincerely. His eyes filled with regret as I glared at him.

"What the hell, dumbass? Just because _I_ don't have a precious mom and dad, doesn't mean I would want anyone else to be in the same situation!" I spat angrily as I stood as well.

I glared Nick hard in the eyes, sending him one last scathing look, before turning on my heels and stalking away.

"Shawn! _Shawn!_" I could hear both Nick and Troy shout at me as I pulled open the hall doors. There shouts were futile against the heavy oak doors, and were quickly silenced as I sunk to the ground.

What a prick.

* * *

**A/N:** **There's Chapter 14!! I have Chapter 15 written, so I'll try to post it tomorrow. After Chapter 15 comes the first task!! I have great plans for it. Now that the plot is starting to move forward a little, it would be nice to get some feedback from people. Please let me know what you think, even if you hate everything I've done!**

**-Shawn**


	15. Those silly 14 year olds

I glared Nick hard in the eyes, sending him one last scathing look, before turning on my heels and stalking away

**Chapter 15: Those silly 14-year-olds.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything from Hogwarts. I only own Shawn and her school and friends.**

_I glared Nick hard in the eyes, sending him one last scathing look, before turning on my heels and stalking away._

_"Shawn! Shawn!" I could hear both Nick and Troy shout at me as I pulled open the hall doors. There shouts were futile against the heavy oak doors, and were quickly silenced as I sunk to the ground._

_What a prick._

* * *

About two weeks later, I was called out of my Integrated Defense class. It was taught by Madame J, herself, so I was kind of upset that I would be missing her awesome teaching skills, but I left anyway. Walking through the maze of the castle, I was finally let into a room. There stood an old creepy-looking dude, the four other champions, and one evil reporter.

Rita Skeeter.

And her stupid little photographer man.

"Ah! Miss Black. Wonderful, now that all five champions are here, we may commence the weighing of the wands." The creepy dude said. I slid into a chair next to Harry Potter, and pulled out my ebony wand from my holster. Harry sent me an odd look, to which I just raised an eyebrow at, and turned to face the front. He called up Viktor.

I zoned out through Viktor's, Fleur's, and Cedric's wand weighing, before the creepy dude called me up. I snatched my wand off of the desk and flounced over to the front of the room.

"Ahh, not one of my creations? No, this has to be the work of Nicholas Waterby, am I correct?" I nodded in affirmation. Waterby was one of the best wand-makers in Canada, and had been for years.

"14 inch Thestral feather and ebony wood? Interesting combination. Is it temperamental at all? I find that the darker substances tend to be." He seemed mildly curious.

"Not overly so. It works very well for me. It's a very powerful wand." I said proudly.

"Yes, and in top condition." He praised. I threw my head back with a prideful grin. As an auror, we were expected to keep our weapons in top condition, meaning weekly polishes and semi-annual cleanings.

"Augmenti!" He sent a jet of water flying out. It sparkled and glistened before he quickly canceled the spell.

"Excellent, it is working wonderfully." He continued. I nodded politely in thanks as I received my wand and sat back down. I zoned out once again.

Suddenly, everyone was standing, so I followed suit. The champions stood in front of a white photography screen, with a sleazy looking photographer in front of them.

A shrill voice broke out.

"Move him to the front!" The body of the voice pulled Harry Potter to the front of the champions.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Well, come on Black, we don't have all day." She said sweetly. What a fake.

"Skeeter." I said coldly, not moving from my spot.

"Shawn, how nice to see you. Can I get an interview after this? How's the war going in America?" She shot questions at me a mile a minute. The other champions looked on in interest as I raised my hand to silence her, a glare on my features.

"Talk to the PR department, Skeeter. You know standard procedure." I spat before shoving my way by to stand in between Cedric and Krum.

Skeeter and the photographer shuffled us around forever. Finally, they came to a stop and took the picture, resulting in Harry and Fleur sitting in chairs, with me, Cedric, and Krum standing behind them.

We all looked pretty intense, I won't lie.

Harry and Fleur both had angry, competitive faces, eyes glaring at the camera. Krum and Cedric Diggory both had their backs against me, but had their heads turned towards the camera in a glare, their arms crossed aggressively. I glared in the middle, my arms also crossed in a very intimidating position, if I do say so myself.

Like I said, we looked pretty intense.

We left the room to go to dinner, talking and laughing as if we had known each other for years. Potter looked kind of left out, but who could blame him? He was a 14-year-old kid amongst 17 and 18-year-old adults.

"So I never saw that red-head at lunch with you guys this morning at breakfast." I hung back to chat with Harry for a bit.

"Oh, Ron? Ron Weasley?" His bright green eyes regarded me curiously.

"Another fucking Weasley?!" Harry looked slightly alarmed, so I toned it down a bit.

"I mean…Ron, yeah, let's go with Ron. Anyways, yeah, where is this boy?" I couldn't help but chuckle at Harry's confused face.

"Well, we kind of had a fight. He thought that _I _entered my name into the goblet, even when I tried to tell him that I didn't." He said glumly.

I nodded sympathetically.

"Yeah, me and my best friend are having a fight too." I frowned.

'Yeah, we all saw you storm out of the Great Hall the other day. What happened?"

"He just made a really, _really_ stupid comment without thinking." I said sadly.

"And you don't think you can forgive him?" He asked quietly. In the distance (at the end of a very long corridor) I could see the Great Hall doors coming up. By now, the other three champions were far ahead of us, almost walking in.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to. He's my best friend; we've been through everything together. But sometimes, people (like me) need time to stew in their anger for a bit. I have to be furious before I can wind down enough to talk to him. It should happen soon, to be honest. I'm starting to miss him." I sighed.

"Do you think Ron needs time to stew?" He looked like a lost puppy, and in that moment, I realized that even though he was Harry Potter, the great boy-who-lived, he was still a 14-year-old boy. The same 14-year-old boy who had been unwillingly thrown into a situation that was potentially life-threatening. Fancy spell work could only get him so far, all he needed right now were his friends.

"I don't know kid." I sighed again. "What I _do_ know, is that if he's as good a friend as he seems, then he'll come around. And if not, then he's not worth it."

I pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. He followed behind diligently, before we stopped at our usual spot. I had taken to sitting near the Weasley twins with Carmen, which was near enough to Harry and his friends.

We stopped and made eye-contact.

He smiled.

"Thanks, Black."

"Call me Shawn." I grinned.

"Thanks, Shawn." He grinned back and sat next to Hermione.

As I turned around I could hear her huff.

"What were you doing with _her?_"

I laughed out loud as I sat next to Carmen.

Yep, definitely 14-year-olds.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, it is possible for me to update two days in a row. I wrote this while I was at camp, and I had sudden inspiration to write more, so expect a lot more to come. As I said last chapter, things are beginning to move faster, so any feedback would be appreciated!**

**Also, I realize that the end of the chapter was a bit sappy with Harry, but keep in mind that her father is Harry's godfather. I'm sure (actually, I know because I'm the author) that she's feeling a bit sisterly and protective of him, which will show in the future. **

**And yes, this chapter was kind of boring and lame, but it's just filler. The next couple of chapters will be awesome!**

**Also, BIG THANKS to lovesick.melody and ****raveygirl17**** for their fantastic reviews!**

**-Shawn**


	16. Dungeons and Dragons, or just Dragons

Chapter 16: Dungeons and Dragons or just Dragons really

**Chapter 16: Dungeons and Dragons or just Dragons really**

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter, only Shawn and Salem and stuff.**

_"What were you doing with her?" _

_I laughed out loud as I sat next to Carmen._

_Yep, definitely 14-year-olds._

* * *

The next week had flown by, and suddenly, the task was only four days away. I still had not made amends with Nick, though Troy and Carmen had taken to helping me prepare for the task. The only problem was that no one knew what to expect. We had researched previous tasks, and gone over every spell we knew, but our only clue was that the task was made to test my daring. It was three days (November 21st) before the task, when our prayers were answered.

I was sitting at breakfast with Carmen and Troy, discussing the war (what else was there to discuss?) in America, when suddenly a barn owl swooped down in front of us ("That was my bacon!"). I didn't recognize it, but the letter in its claws had my name scrawled across the front. I turned to my two friends and shrugged, before taking the letter.

They both looked over my shoulder as I flattened out the parchment.

_Dear Shawn,_

_Hey mate, how's your year been going so far? I saw the article written about the champions in the Daily Prophet, and I think I know of a way to help you out in the first task. If you can, meet me out in front of the Forbidden Forest tonight at 11:30. Come disguised (yes, Bill told me of your wonderful talent). If you can, just meet me at the forest, and if you can't, then respond to this letter. I hope to see you tonight._

_Trust me,_

_Charlie Weasley_

I stared at the letter in confusion. The last time I had spoken to Charlie Weasley was the brief stint at the Quidditch World Cup. So why did he want to help me?

"Are you going to meet him?" Carmen asked as she took a bite of her eggs. I stuck a bit of mine into my mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

"Well, he says he going to be able to help me." I shrugged for the second time in as many minutes.

"But isn't that considered cheating?" Troy asked worriedly. I sent him an incredulous look.

"You know as well as I do, that cheating is basically a part of the tournament." I raised an eyebrow. He nodded his head, conceding, and put more bacon on his plate.

"Well, I guess I've got my plans for tonight. Now, Troy, what class do we have first?" I asked cheerfully as I finished off my plate.

"Potions and Herbology. It's a B-day." He said glumly. I groaned loudly.

"I bloody _hate_ Potions…" I whined.

"Did you just say 'bloody'?" Carmen and Troy asked simultaneously.

* * *

I couldn't stop the blush from creeping up my cheeks.

At 11:20 that night, Carmen was helping me put finishing touches on my disguise. I had decided to turn my black locks into bright blonde shoulder-length hair, and traded in my gray eyes for dark blue ones. I had made myself about 4 inches shorter, turning my noticeable height into an average 5'7". I shrunk my nose a tiny bit, and had it upturned slightly, and made my lips a tad bit larger and redder. And with that, I was totally unrecognizable.

"And _hot_." Carmen grinned as she applied eye shadow to my eyelids as I smoothed out my jeans. We had decided that I would be Charlie's dragon-tamer friend from Romania, who was getting a little friendlier, if you know what I mean.

"Are you saying that I wasn't hot before?" I asked insulted as I flipped my blonde hair aside.

"Yes." She said bluntly, before bursting into giggles. I joined her, and it took us quite a few moments to quiet down, until Troy came in.

"Carmen? Shawn…?" He trailed off as we both straightened up. His jaw dropped slightly and he blinked owlishly, before taking in a large gulp of air, his Adam's apple bobbing amusingly.

"Actually Troy, the names Annie White." I grinned as I walked over to him.

"Wow, you look…different." He looked up and down my body, before stopping at my face.

"And you know how to make a situation awkward." I said flatly as I grabbed his arm and whirled him to the door.

"Is the coast clear?" I asked irritated.

"Yeah, yeah, the coasts clear, so get out of here, and make sure you disillusion yourself on the way back." He warned, finally getting over my new look.

"Thanks, I'll tell you about everything later." I hugged Carmen, and then Troy, though Troy lingered a bit longer, and then darted off into the night.

I jogged along to the side of the forbidden forest, looking for any sign of bright red hair. I saw him nearing, so I picked up my pace a slight bit, before arriving next to him.

"Hey Charlie." I said casually from behind. I giggled as he leaped into the air, whirling around to stare wide-eyed. His hand was fumbling for his wand, and I couldn't help but laugh even louder.

"It's me…Shawn." I said, as if talking to a three year old.

"Oh, sorry. You just surprised me. Nice disguise by the way, does it come with a name?" He asked charmingly. I rolled my eyes in disgust. Really, could guys think of nothing besides looks?

"Yeah, it's Annie White. So what did you want to show me?" I asked curiously as he took my arm and led me into the forest.

"Well, the first task really. I won't tell you, I'll just show you, that way, it won't look so bad if we're caught." He winked conspiringly as he led me even deeper in. Off in the distance I could hear shouts, and see bursts of light coming from behind the trees.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked slowly as we neared them.

"Five of them, one for each of the champions, I reckon." He sighed dreamily.

"What are the breeds?" We had come in full viewing range of the beasts. There, straight ahead of me, stood five majestic looking dragons. All around them, trainers were trying to tame them down.

"I recognize the Chinese Fireball, and the Swedish Short-Snout. But what are the others?" I pressed when he didn't answer.

"Well, that one right there," he pointed to a particularly vicious one, "is the Hungarian Horntail, and over there," he pointed to a calmer green one, "is the Welsh Green. And that beauty over there, _that _is the Hebridean Black." He pointed to a ferocious looking black one, with spikes all along its tail.

"Oh yeah, he's a real beauty…" I looked at him as if he was insane, and he shook his head.

"Oh no, these are all female dragons." He grinned. I groaned.

"Which means they're more dangerous and temperamental, of course?" I exclaimed.

"Of course." He teased. He tensed up for a moment, and silenced me.

"Over there." I could see Madame Maxime (the Beauxbaton's headmistress) walking over to another man. They were both huge, appearing to be half-giant.

"The filthy cheat." I whispered harshly. Charlie chuckled.

"Says _you._"

"Damn right, says me. You know they're going to tell." I whispered again. He laughed, before pointing into the bushes.

"Over there too, isn't that the Durmstrang's headmaster? Karkaroff, or whatever?" He was right. Karakaroff was sneaking around behind bushes, trying to get a glimpse at the dragons. I glowered.

"It seems that Hogwarts is the only school playing fair." I noted.

"Naw, I'm willing to bet that Hagrid brought Harry over, they're close. And Harry's going to be noble and tell Cedric. He won't want anyone to have an advantage you see." Charlie said expertly. I nodded, it seemed plausible. But wait.

"Who's Hagrid?"

"See that man, over there, talking to the Beauxbaton's headmistress? That's the grounds keeper, Hagrid. He's really close with Harry and his friends, from what I know." He whispered. Just then, Hagrid called Charlie over, and having spotted me, Charlie had to drag me along as well.

"Play along." He whispered urgently, before taking my arm once again.

"Hey there, Hagrid." Charlie grinned as he walked over. I saw a shift in the air beside him, and new it must have been Harry under James Potter's old invisibility cloak.

Filthy sneak.

"How'r things going Charlie?" He asked, looking pointedly at the dragons.

"Well, we had them under a sleeping draft earlier, and they just woke up, and as you can tell, they aren't too pleased." He winced slightly.

"What sorta breeds ya got there?" He looked at the dragons longingly, and I wanted to puke. Really, who likes dragons?

"That one right there is a Hungarian Horntail, that's the vicious one. The Common Welsh Green is over there, then there's the Chinese Fireball, that's the reddish one, and then the Swedish Short-Snout is over there, and over there is the Herbidean Black, though she could give the Horntail a run for her money." He pointed to each dragon as he ticked them off. Hagrid nodded, almost in a trance like state. By now, Madame Maxime had left Hagrid's side to walk around.

"I didn't know you were going to bring her Hagrid, or else I wouldn't have told you." Charlie said solemnly. "The champions aren't supposed to know, and she's _bound_ to tell."

"I jus' thought it'd be fun, is all." He at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"Real romantic date." He laughed.

"And who's this pretty lass, hmm?" He asked challengingly. I shook my head in disgust, but he didn't notice.

"Oh, this is my girl Annie. Yeah, we just started going out not too long ago. She works on the reservation too." He pulled me closer to him and kissed me cheek chastely. Part of me was gagging on the inside, but the other part didn't mind. I mean, there was no denying that Charlie Weasley was hot, and well-built, and funny, and charming, and…that's it.

He grinned playfully at me as I slipped an arm around his waist, playing along.

"Well, you know this one's a wild one. I went into dragons for the thrill ya know?" I looked at Hagrid to see him nod. "And, well, let's just say I could quit my job and still get that same thrill." I smirked as Charlie's face flamed up clashing horribly with his hair.

"So, there's 5, one for each champion hmm?" Hagrid boomed loudly, trying to escape the awkward air.

"Yeah, and don't try anything funny, Hagrid. I've got those eggs counted." He said sternly as he caught Hagrid eyeing the eggs longingly.

"Yes, well, I mus' go fin' Madame Maxime. G'day Charlie, and it was nice meetin' ya Annie." He nodded towards the two of us and walked off. I immediately pulled away from Charlie as we began to walk back out of the forest.

"Oi! I'm your girlfriend now?" I asked him incredulously as he laughed.

"Relax, I didn't want you to seem suspicious. Besides, I'm a _wild one?_! Thanks Shawn, real mature." He groaned, and it was my turn to laugh.

"You should have seen your face though, it was horribly red." I grinned as we neared the edge of the forest.

"I can imagine, though you turned bright red when I kissed your cheek." He grinned back as we stood in the darkness. I grabbed his hand to keep from losing him as he dropped me off near the plane.

"What can I say, this pale skin just reveals my emotions to well." I said wistfully. We stood in an awkward silence for a few moments.

"Well, I best be off." I nodded at him. He smiled politely and pulled me into a hug.

"I'll see you right after the task." He nodded and kissed my forehead. I stood back and disillusioned myself. As I was pocketing my wand, I said it one more time.

"Did I _really_ have to be your bloody girlfriend?" I whined.

"Did you_ really_ just say bloody?" He laughed.

I groaned silently, glad that the disillusion charm was in place, so he couldn't see me blush.

I'd said the word 'bloody' two bloody times in one day!

Stupid British slang.

* * *

**A/N:** **I got the Herbidean Black from the HP Lexicon, so yeah. Thanks for the reviews last time, it really helped get this one out faster. This one's longer, as a thank you! See what happens when you review? Good things come to you! Please let me know what you think!**

**Oh, and the scene where Charlie is talking to Hagrid, I tried to change it around from GoF, so it's not exactly the same, but that's where the gist of it came from. It's pages 327 and 328, from Chapter 19 'The Hungarian Horntail'.**

**-Shawn**


	17. First Task Part I

"Did you really just say bloody

**Chapter 17: First Task Part I**

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter or anything like that, just Shawn and those kids/ideas/schools that you don't know :)**

_  
"Did you__ really__ just say bloody?" He laughed._

_I groaned silently, glad that the disillusion charm was in place, so he couldn't see me blush._

_I'd said the word 'bloody' two bloody times in one day!_

_Stupid British slang._

* * *

Before anyone could even blink, the morning of November 24th was upon us and with it the First Task. I had told Carmen and Troy of everything that had gone on in the forest, and they were quick to help me figure out a way past the dragons. There were many things that I could have done. For example, I could have sent the conjunctivitis curse, but I had decided to make that my last resort. I was a Black, meaning that I had to do something spectacularly cool and amazing and showy. It's practically in my blood.

"IDEA!" I shouted that morning as we sat in my room, trying to think of a way to get past the dragon. The task was to begin in 2 hours, and we were running low on time.

"Please, do share." Troy said sarcastically as he buried his face into my bed. I tutted at him before sharing my idea.

"A holographic charm. Mixed with a projection charm. Or I guess the other way around, really." I said thoughtfully.

Troy sat up and looked at me calculatingly. I raised an eyebrow.

"That might work. You project the Dragons body directly across from it, but instead of projecting it onto a screen, you project it into a holographic charm, which makes it look like it's actually there. It will get territorial and focus on the dragon, leaving you time to sprint past it." Troy strung the thoughts together and sent me a grin.

"Brilliant." Carmen whispered.

"Here, try it now." Troy said standing up in front of me.

"Nah, I think I'll wait till the task." I pocketed my wand and stood.

"Are you crazy? You aren't going to practice?!" Carmen asked incredulously as I began to exit the room.

"The task is supposed to test my daring and the ability to think on my feet. That's exactly what I plan on doing." I smiled.

I could hear them groan simultaneously as I walked out the door.

* * *

"Champions, welcome to your first task." Mr. Crouch said ominously as all five champions stood in a tent. He was holding a small sack as we gathered around him in a circle.

"In this bag is a miniature version of what you will have to fight." He passed around the sack and each champion took their pick.

Cedric Diggory was to go first with the relatively calm Swedish Short-Snout.

Fleur Delacour would follow with the Welsh Green.

Viktor would take over after that, facing the angry Chinese Fireball.

I would butt in to fight the aggressive Hebridean Black.

And Harry Potter (last, and probably the least) would finish off (or be finished off by) the Hungarian Horntail.

"You will need to get past the dragon, and capture the _Golden Egg_, before returning to the sidelines. Points will be awarded and deducted for particularly advanced magic, or for any injury that may occur." Mr. Crouch continued.

No one looked particularly surprised by the news, meaning that all the champions had known about the task before-hand.

"Well then, you will all have a few moments, but at the sound of the cannon, Mr. Diggory may proceed. Good luck to you all." He nodded curtly before exiting the tent. The five of us just stared at each other for a moment before we split off into our general directions.

I had a long wait so I amused myself with shooting little fireballs from my fingers in the corner.

After many cheers and boos, it finally came my moment to shine. I waited for the cannon before exiting the tent and into the arena. Everyone was on their feet cheering, and I could see the section for Salem, cheering at the top of their lungs. My heart swelled with pride as I held out my wand.

The ground was rocky, giving me a good hiding spot as I prepared myself for the spell. The Hebridean Black looked vicious, with its spiky tail and fire-snorting snout. I huffed, before coming out of my hiding spot.

"_Fake statua. Exertus alacritas!" _I shouted out the two spells in quick succession, waving my wand in a circular motion. I watched in awe as a Hebridean Black seemed to shoot out of my wand, matching the same size as its counterpart. It stood a ways away, glaring threateningly at its corporeal form. The real dragon roared angrily and tried to tackle it. I took this distraction as my moment to sprint.

I spotted the eggs nest about 30 yards in front of me. Sprinting as fast as I could, a swing of the Hebrideans tail struck my down, and into a protruding rock. Apparently, in its mad haste to get to the fake dragon, it had swung its tail wildly, and into me. I coughed painfully as blood spurted from the puncture wound in my stomach. I could hear the crowd gasp, and the stunning wizards move forward slightly.

I shook my head. I would finish.

The Hebridean Black was still distracted by my hologram, so I sprinted to the nest and scooped up my golden egg. I looked back to see the real dragon roaring.

It had gone _through_ my hologram, and was now running towards the one threat to its eggs.

Me.

I sprinted away as fast as I could, narrowly avoiding the sprays of fire that were sent my way. I finally made it to the sidelines, where Charlie _happened_ to be standing, waiting to escort me to the medi-station. People had risen to cheer, and I couldn't help but grin, before I looked down.

My black shirt was ripped, and blood was pouring out of it at an alarming rate. My hands and arms were scraped from the rock, and I was dirty beyond belief.

I swayed slightly.

"Come on, love. You're looking a bit pale. Let's get you to the Madame Pomfrey; she'll fix you right up." Charlie said soothingly as he slipped my arm around his shoulder and his around my waist. I leaned against him all the way to the medical tent, before he helped me sit in one of the beds.

Diggory was sitting there with burn cream over half of body. He looked slightly perturbed and looked at me curiously as I sat down, gasping for breath. He had obviously missed my spectacular performance.

"What happened to you?" I asked politely as Charlie went to hail down the medi-witch.

"That Short-Snout decided it likes roasted students rather than raw." He said dryly. "How about you?"

"Took a tail to the stomach. Makes me wonder why people refer to _me_ as the 'Battering Ram'." I coughed. He chuckled slightly.

"Well, you are a spectacular beater, so that could have something to do with it." He grinned. I blushed and shook my head.

"And from what I hear, you're an even better seeker. Heard you beat Potter." I said conversationally. He blushed as well.

"That was mostly just a fluke." I frowned.

"There are no such things as _flukes_ in Quidditch."

He was about to reply when some crazy medi-witch came running over.

"Diggory, lie down. And _you_! Taking a tail to the stomach! You shouldn't be exerting yourself, or you'll pass out from blood loss!" She clucked like a mother hen. I smiled faintly.

"Sorry ma'am."

"Just like your father, you are. Always getting into scrapes." She all but shoved a blood-replenishing potion down my throat and cast a number of spells on me.

"Lie down, and stay there till I tell you too." She glared before walking away. I coughed slightly, before sitting up.

"Is she always that insane?"

"You don't even know the half of it." Cedric sighed.

* * *

**A/N: So that was part 1 of the first task. The next part only has a little bit of the first task, but a lot more of Nick, Troy, and maybe Viktor? Thank you for the lovely reviews again, they make me so happy.**

**The spells that Shawn used are just the words Fake image and Project animate in Latin. I do believe those are the right translations, but I got them from a translator website, so I could be completely wrong…**

**Also, WARNING! I didnt really edit this before I posted it, because I'm on my way to a Breaking Dawn release party. I know, I am a dork...**

**A couple of announcements though.**

**First, BREAKING DAWN COMES OUT TONIGHT!! Meaning don't expect any updates over the weekend -.- **

**Second, I have volleyball tryouts all this week, so I don't know how much time I'm going to have to update.**

**Third, I'm thinking of writing a new story. Here's the summary, but it sounds better in my head, I swear.**

_**Cornelia "Cory" Potter was never the perfect child, no, that was left up to her brother James. Her twin brother, James Potter, who was younger than her by a mere 7 minutes, but was still younger nevertheless, was always better than she was. Always the one who was slightly better at flying, the one with the wicked sense of humor, the one with the good looks, the one who could get away with everything, the **_**Gryffindor. **_**When the hat shouted out that Cory was destined to forever adorn the Slytherin crest on her robes, her life went down the tubes. Her parents still loved her, sure, but James never forgave her. After his death, she moved to America, but now that Voldemort is back, she's been called back to fight. And fight she will. A Slytherin never backs down from battle, no matter which side there on, and Cory is ready to take on her old friends, while fighting alongside her old enemies. **_

**My plan is to have like, the beginning of each chapter be something that went on during her Hogwarts time, but not a flashback. Just like a scene sort of thing. The beginnings are going to be consistent with each other as the story goes along, while the second half will be what is going on in the present. Does that make sense? So like, the first half of each chapter will be a part of her time at Hogwarts, but it'll be a consistent story line, just like the second half. So you'll be learning more about Cory's past with each chapter. This will be going on during OOtP, and will probably be a Sirius/OC or a Remus/OC. I haven't decided. Please let me know what you think!**

**And Fourth, I would like to say RIP to Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon Professor who gave 'The Last Lecture'. I've seen the lecture and it holds so much truth, and has honestly given me a new outlook on life. I extend my condolences to his family, and I think that if you haven't yet, you should go search his lecture on youtube. It is a very moving speech.**

**-Shawn**


	18. It Just Exploded!

**Chapter 17: It Just Exploded!**

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter or anything like that, just Shawn and those kids/ideas/schools that you don't know :)**

* * *

_"Lie down, and stay there till I tell you too." She glared before walking away. I coughed slightly, before sitting up._

_"Is she always that insane?"_

_"You don't even know the half of it." Cedric sighed._

* * *

I stood up and winked at Cedric before walking out of the tent. Charlie had left after getting Madame Pomfrey; I guess he was going to help stop the Horntail from eating Harry.

My score was up on a huge score board thing, it was bellow Cedric's, Fleur's, and Krum's. Cedric had 36, Fleur had 38, and Krum and I both stood together with solid 40's. I was pleased; at least I would be tied for first, because I seriously doubt that Harry could do anything spectacular.

I was about to go watch when I noticed that Troy, Carmen, Fred, and George were coming down to greet me. I waved them over with a grin.

"That was amazing!" Troy caught me in a hug. I was still on and adrenalin rush from the task, so I hugged him back ecstatically.

"It was pretty cool." Carmen nodded, sending me a smile.

"Thanks, guys. Except that tail to the stomach was brutal, huh?" I asked as I rubbed my stomach.

"Yeah, looked pretty painful. I'm surprised Pomfrey hasn't confided you to bed arrest." Fred said thoughtfully.

"Shhhh!! She has, but I'm not going to sit there while I could be talking to _you_ guys." I laughed. Carmen frowned.

"You really shouldn't be out of bed. You've lost a good amount of blood, and you ran a bunch, and that was some powerful magic to keep up right there. Really, you should get some rest right now." Carmen practically pleaded.

"Stop being such a healer. I'm fine, really. I'll get some rest tonight." I promised.

"Yeah right. Party in the lounge I'm thinking? You guys wanna come?" Troy asked Fred and George.

"No, I think we'll be throwing Harry a party." Just then the crowd burst into cheers. We looked over to see Harry on a firebolt carrying the golden egg.

"A broomstick? Clever." I thought aloud.

"Why didn't you think of that?" George nudged me in the stomach.

"Because this is supposed to test my skills as a wizard. Everyone knows that I can fly, you all saw that the first day, but now everyone knows that I have power too." George nodded, but still told me that it would have been cool.

We nodded to Harry as he walked into the tent; his two little friends were already running down the stands. As they passed, Hermione gave me a look of respect and awe (I couldn't help but giggle) and Fred and George punched Ron in the shoulder.

"Hey, Shawn? You lot are supposed to meet Bagman at the Champions tent soon. He's going to give you instructions on the next task. And excellent job earlier. I'll keep in touch." He gave her a hug and turned to his little brothers.

"You lot keep an eye on her. She's a wild one." He winked at me as he said this, and I tried to suppress my laughter.

"Don't worry Charlie, I've got my eye all over her." George laughed as he slung an arm around my shoulder. I pushed him off playfully.

"I'm gonna head over to the champions tent. I'll talk to you guys later." I walked away and made my way up to the tent. Fleur and Krum were already there, and I could see Cedric not too far behind me.

"Great job you two. Viktor, looks like it's between you and me." I smiled. Viktor looked as indifferent as ever.

"Actually, that Potter has scored a 40 as vell."

"Oh…that was…unexpected." I said uncertainly.

Harry walked in quietly, and we descended into silence once again.

"Champions! Wonderful jobs today! I'd like to give you the final update on the scores! Harry, Viktor, and Shawn all lead with 40 points. Fleur you're trailing behind with 38, and Cedric follows with a close 36. Now, the egg that you all are holding is the key to your next task. That's all I'm telling you. Good luck, and go party with your friends tonight." With that, he nodded and walked off.

"Uhh…cool. I'll see you guys later then." I said as I jumped up from my seat.

"Yeah, later." Cedric called.

I was sitting in our lounge long after our little party ended. It really wasn't that fun, just some soda and chips and we just kind of talked. There weren't too many of us, so it wasn't a big social event like I'm sure it was for the Hogwarts students.

I was reading a book on the 'Art of Defending Darkness' which was actually quite interesting. I had found it tucked away in Troy's trunk, and he let me borrow it with no problem.

Just then I heard something squish as it walked by the lounge. I threw my head up, wand out.

"Who's there?" I cast a lumos charm around the room.

There, looking hideous, was Nick, covered in water and this pearly white cream. It was starting to lather in some places, and I couldn't help but feel incredulous.

"Are you covered in _shampoo_?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Uhh…well, yes. You see, our toilet…it's really intense, and Troy and I were talking…and it just _exploded!_ And I don't know why we did it…but we did, and now there's a mess, and I'm a mess, and I don't know why I'm down here actually." He looked so adorably lost that I was sure I couldn't stay mad at him anymore.

"Why don't you go shower off, hmm? And come back down? I think we should talk." I said quietly. He nodded.

"Yeah, alright." He trudged away, and as he walked by, I was sure his toilet had exploded.

He smelled awful.

He returned about 20 minutes later, his hair still dripping from the shower, but at least he was clean.

"Look, Shawn, before you say anything. You deserve an apology. I don't know why I said that, it was stupid, and you know that I don't think before I speak." He said quietly.

"You don't need to apologize anymore than you already have. I should be saying sorry to you. I totally overreacted over the one comment, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." I averted my eyes.

"You know that just because you don't _really_ have a family, you have me and Troy right? We're always going to be here for you." He also averted his gaze.

"And you know that I would never want to put your family in danger right? That I would never want anything bad to happen to any of them." He nodded at this, and I pulled him into a comforting hug.

"I'm sorry it took this long for us to make-up. I've missed you." I mumbled into his shirt.

"I've missed you too." He sighed. I squeezed him lightly.

"Let's not fight again. It sucks when we fight." I groaned.

"Yeah, except its worse for me! You at least had Troy and Carmen to talk to! I had to deal with Derek!" He exclaimed.

"Aww, Derek is cool! Don't be mean!" I hit him in the shoulder. He laughed.

"Yeah, we're definitely back to normal."

* * *

**A/N: So the exploding toilet thing is kind of an inside joke with my friends, but I thought it was funny, and I promised them I would add it in, so I did. Um…yeah, new chapter for this and 'Crimson and Clover' in one day! I'm very surprised with myself. Uhhhh…more chapters to come I guess. Please continue to leave reviews! It makes my day!**

**-Shawn **


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